Dear Mr.
Hodgson,—Can you by any means contrive
to come up to Town? Were it only for a day, it might be
of the most essential service to a friend I know you love and value. There is
too much fear of a separation between him and his wife. No time is to be lost,
but even if you are too late to prevent that happening
decidedly, yet it would be the greatest comfort and
relief to me to confide other circumstances to you, and consult you; and so if
possible oblige me, if only for twenty-four hours. Say not a word of my summons; but attribute your coming, if you come, to
business of your own SEPARATION OF LORD AND LADY BYRON. 21
It is probable I may be obliged to go home next week. If my scheme appears wild, pray attribute it to the state of mind I am in. Alas! I see only ruin and destruction in every shape to one most dear to me.
