September 25.—
How delightful are
the new sensations, my dear Cecilia, that
I feel hourly springing in my heart!
Surely the tenderness of a mother can never
be sufficiently repaid; and I now more
than ever rejoice in having, by an obedience,
which perhaps I once thought had
some little merit in it, contributed so
much to the repose of a parent to whom
I have such numberless obligations. I
never see my dear little girl, but I think
such were the tender sentiments, the
sweet anxieties, that my honoured and
beloved mother felt when her Sidney was
such a brat as this. Then I say, surely
I have a right to all the duty, all the
filial love that this creature can shew me,
in return for my fondness. As for Mr.
Arnold, he idolizes it; you never saw so
good a nurse as he makes. Lady Grimston
declares, we are both in a fair way
of ruining the child, and advises us to
send it out of the house, that we may
not grow too fond of it; but we shall
hardly take her counsel.
