O yes, we forgot to say the silk stockings came——no, didn’t so much forget it as neglect it; for I have to do almost all the letter-writing, & so of a necessity a good many letters go unwritten that ought to be written; but Jean was pleased, & thanked her aunt Mollie just the same.

No, you mistake—it was not my purpose to be grammatical; & not my instinct to care whether I am or not in a private letter. To save a single moment’s time, & a single word, I will gladly break any rule of grammar., when the matter is not for print. In the case you instance, I started to say to one thing, & changed my mind & said another. If I had been writing for the press I would have changed my beginning; as it was, I was intent only upon saving the words already written.