Hartford, Oct. 24/81.
My Dear House—
I am under unspeakable obligations to you, & you can bet that Mrs. Clemens will be, too, when she returns from shipping Clara Spaulding homewards & learns what a splendid service you have done us; for she was totally unable to reconcile herself to that proposed [foot-note] of mine—felt about it just as you did—& she made me feel so, too, which was the reason I wanted you advised with before anything should be done with it.
I cannot agree with you that getting out of bed to go & ransack the libraries, in bodily pain, & hunt out that mass of information, was a little thing; on the contrary, it was a very great sacrifice to make for love: there are very few who would do so much in pursuit of revenge, even. And to go through the tedious work of searching out the resulting changes in the book-text & applying the remedies was another heavy job, too. For all of which I am most sincerely grateful; & as heartily sorryow they were so costly to you. I don’t know how I can repay, ‸but‸ I shall always stand ready to try.
I prefer Form B, & have written Osgood explaining why; but I want my preference to yield to yours & Osgood’s. I have lent Osgood your letter to make the emendations by, as they are all clearly set forth in it.
I will trot down, now, & telephone for a messenger to carry these said letters to the post.
Ys Ever
Mark.
You have given me a prodigious sense of relief, my boy. I was in a confoundedly awkward place. And I was taking a mighty awkward & dangerous way to get out of it, too.
[letter docketed by House:] Clemens S. L. | Oct 25 ‸24‸/1881
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