Note 45 — Chapter II · GLENLAIR—CHILDHOOD—1831 TO 1841.

Two letters from Miss Cay to James, one dated Sept. 1, the other October 21, 1841, were kept by Mr. Clerk Maxwell, and have been preserved. Although not significant enough to be inserted here, they show the confidential intercourse which had sprung up between “Aunt Jane” and her sister’s son. She writes of theological and other matters which would not generally be thought interesting to a boy of ten, thanks him for his thoughtfulness in getting ferns for her, and says, “I was glad to hear you were happy, with all your experiments and adventures.” There had been a visit to Edinburgh that summer, and she writes as if anticipating that it would be soon repeated. There is also a reference to an elaborate set of Berlin-wool work for the furniture of the drawing-room at Glenlair, which had been begun in Mrs. Maxwell’s lifetime, and was afterwards completed by Miss Cay.