Dear Harry,

I write to tell you the most terrible piece of news. Dearest Mrs Gaskell died quite suddenly this evening (Sunday) at 6 oclock whilst she was talking to us all. Either I or Thurstun are going down to Manchester & shall be well on our way before you get this. Send word of this to Mary. It is not a fortnight since my father died.@Elizabeth Gaskell wrote to her daughter Marianne “I am so sorry to think that we shall never see the dear, kind judge again.” ([? 31 October 1865] Letters 781). In their “Introduction,” Chapple and Pollard comment that “the lament assumes an ironic tinge as we contemplate the fact” of Elizabeth Gaskell’s own imminent death (Letters xxiii). The three girls are I think are as well as could be expected. Ever your loving C. Crompton.