The Doctor is beginning to fear he cannot recover tho' he has'nt told me so exactly. He now has very decidedly dropsy and in spite of all the remedies it continues & the strength is failing. His liver is as healthy as can be but the swelling of the stomach continues the same and today I begin to feel very miserable about him. His appetite is good but he can hardly now sit up in bed and he evidently gets weaker every day. He is emaciated to the last degree and I am very much afraid Dr. [Charles Pinckney] Woodruff was right when he said he did not have vitality enough to recover. It is a sad sight indeed to see so much beauty & manhood gradually decaying before our eyes, but disease seems to have left him to die from exhaustion. For the last four days he has continual pains in the stomach such as he had at first after coming up here and we are obliged to give him morphine which makes everything quiet for a while, but all the time he gets weaker and weaker and I am afraid will soon loose his appetite & then he is gone.

I will write every day for a while & give you accounts of his condition.

I think him in a worse condition today than I have seen him ever before. With more strength it seems as if he could be easily cured but I think his blood is like water and I am very much afraid of the brain now in a day or two. He is perfectly himself at present but terribly nervous and dejected. I shall ask the Dr. more particularly about the case tomorrow & write home. Hoping you are well I remain Yr affec Son, E. B. Heyward.

I have spent my little half hour with my Cousin, a very dear friend of mine, & Izards [Walter Izard Heyward's] God Father. I wish I could have introduced him to my “little comfort.” He has a most affectionate heart, and has been so kind to me & my family that I can never forget it. Just such a sad event from the same cause as this loss in yr brother's family gave Cousin Izard an opportunity of showing his love for me at Flatrock many years ago. He has had his trials too and very hard to bear. I did more for his daughter than I dared to tell him of as I found he would not talk of her. Now is'nt there something [more] terrible than death, only think of what affliction disgrace can bring in a family. Poor Cousin I am truly sorry for him but I can do nothing to soothe him.

Your recent loss allows me to remind you that while it seems hard for parents to part with their little loved ones still we must never forget that like all other gifts they come from God alone. He has a right to claim them again and in his mercy he teaches us to feel that he cherishes them as his own for ever. I am sure no one ever looking at a childs face in death has ever doubted its being happy.

And dearest ought not such sad news from home bear some good fruit in our own hearts. As God has seen fit to bring us together thus closely and while our hearts are full of happiness & love for each other let us not forget that it is only by taking up our Saviour's cross lovingly that we can be truly happy & never be separated.

Let us always have Jesus in our home as our constant Companion & friend & let us conform our life to his example and then can we fully enjoy his gifts and if we do come back to the “old rocks” may it be with increased love for him & not only for ourselves. Love in this world is but the fore shadow of that in eternity, its purity, sincerity & consolations come from God alone and to him should we always pray that our lives linked together here below may be sanctified by his grace.

Hoping to see my darling well tomorrow I say good night with my blessings on your head. Most fondly yrs, Barney.

Sleep my dearest and live to make me happy by your sweet smile. It is a shame I should be so hard worked as I should like [word illegible] time for my little comfort and not be weary with watchings. I want my darling to find me all that delights her and I wish her to be always proud of me.

I love to do my duty. I like you to know when I do it. Sweet blessings on yr innocent head. Ever most true yrs, Veldt.

Kiss your hands darling and press them with my love on those jewel Eyes before you go down to breakfast and I shall be with you, close by, you all day, and should you go to the Communion table today that—but never mind I leave it to Gods wise & merciful spirit to teach you.

My brother [Joseph Manigault Heyward] is no better—in fact I think him worse today. I cannot do more than leave him for one hour while I go myself to the Sac[ra]m[en]t.

I shall look into your jewel eyes for one minute this even'g in a place where my darling looks sweetest and hold that dear hand where it is most trusting, and my little comfort must interest herself with all around her, and mind & be happy.

I suppose yr Sister Mary is delighted now that I am shut up here. I declare it is too mean, never mind. I shall count the days & crossmark them to be compensated for one of these days. Goodbye precious Tattie believe me yours forever, Veldt.

And where are you now, in Savannah; or Augusta? I know who loves you with all his heart, and I know just exactly where he is, and I will tell you, in his sister Lizzie's Chamber at her desk writing on her paper with his own pen to his dearest little comfort. And let me tell you something else that the mail boy leaves in a few minutes and what have I been doing all morning for it is now nearly mid-day. I will tell you. I have been with my Father alone talking over my poor brother's affairs and you have seen enough to know that some very painful subjects have been introduced & I have not left him till I was prepared to tell the widow sister some little delicate matters. And now dearest you know exactly why my letter has'nt yet been written. Darling I am now getting well. I sleep so sweetly and the children talk so funnily, and I feel I am of so much service to all around and I feel so happy in feeling my being loved & esteemed by such a sensitive, noble, girl as my little Tattie and I wont omit my feeling gratified at the esteem of your Mother & your sister Mary.

But darling now that I am at home & feeling happy & sleeping soundly you dont know how cheerful the feeling is that I am loved. I almost feel gay. I am busy as possible or rather shall be so after this is gone to the mail. I am soon going to Charleston. I dont know how soon to Richmond and when am I to come to See you my little pet. I really want to come very much indeed but if I must speak my mind fairly I should say that what I most want is to have you here with me, where I can really make you happy. I want to see you here. Thinking how proud I will be isn't enough. I want to feel proud actually.

I wish to tell you a little secret. I am coming to Sav. or Augusta sooner than you think & you shant know anything about it. And now comes the horrid post boy & I havn't written a word to your Mother.

Goodbye dearest, I hope I shall hear from yr Mother this even'g but I warn you the correspondence cant stay concealed long. I shall have to write through a friend in Cola., a male friend.

And Tattie are not you going to say something to me in your Mothers letter? Is our relation to be simply what you hear from me? but never mind it makes me happy, more than I deserve to feel I am loved. You can say nothing if you can till I come to see you. Very little satisfies me, when the kind of love is such as my Tattie alone in this world can impart to her own, dearest Barney.

And dearest how have you found Savannah? and how are your servants? have they proved faithful and do they look as if they had been behaving themselves well while their mistress was in Greenville, or as the cold weather came on have they like others I know been getting themselves into little scrapes. Darling you dont know how much good coming home has done me. I now really feel well, tho still sleeping badly, but I am so happy in my loving you. When busy I forget you entirely and yet when I am at leisure I go back and find you just in the same old place, and there I commune with you. It has a supporting wholesome effect upon me and you have really already done me a great deal of good. And it is so delicious to wake up every now & then to the reality that I have someone to love me, and I feel so relieved to think that you are such a fine woman. Darling since yesterday I have become more than ever satisfied of the importance of the woman I make my wife being what you and I call “a fine woman.” I drove up to Columbia yesterday & took Izard and for four hours in the buggy he talked to me both going and coming, and I must confess I was very much amused and exceedingly gratified to get at the little fellows character. He really must occupy more of my attention and he well deserves it, his disposition is excellent, very tender hearted & very clever. I asked him if he ever read books and he said “Oh yes ‘that the other day he read Beulah’ half through.” Now only to think of the little wretch reading “Beulah.” But it was when coming home that we had a very curious talk. We got singing hymn tunes together they being the only airs we can sing and I told him that at Greenville when his Uncle Joe's coffin was brought in and placed in the chancel that the choir with the organ sang “Home Sweet Home” and I tried to tell him how it sounded. The little fellow seemed quite touched & sniffled a little and said “Papa you think Aunt Henrietta cared much about Uncle Joe?[”] I said “Oh yes.” And then he said “Papa dont you think she will get married again?” and before I could answer he went on to say “And Papa are you going to get married again. I know these people about here said you were going to be married to Miss Mills[”] (one of the extraordinary ideas of these country people, rather a low person), and here Izard blubbered out, [“]I always said I did'nt care but I would never call her Ma because I didnt like her enough.” So I relieved his mind by telling him that I would marry if I could find a lady who would love him & me and that he mustnt mind what people said[,] that I would take care of him and he seemed comforted & soon after fell asleep on my shoulder.

Now my sweetest little darling that little boy will love you just as I do. I know he will. He watches closely, and he has been always fearing I would marry and that it would be somebody he wouldn't love, and am I not blessed in my choice. I am ready and anxious to show my [Tattie] to him, or to anyone, and that drive together yesterday has united us closer than ever and made me feel my responsibilities greater than before. That boy is really an member of the family, there will be three of us & he will amuse you too. But let me ask how you are my little comfort. Has the photograph got smashed yet and how does it look across the Sav. river. Does it look as if it loves you. If it [doesn't,] dont give it to your Mother. Tattie do you know one week is gone, and you dont know how happy I feel, only wanting to see you so much. I do not attempt to ask after your feeling my loved one since you have decided to be silent[.] I do not complain but I only say I feel happy doubting nothing. Sleep on my little blessing. I will watch till you wake and gladden my heart with your voice. Those jewel eyes are closed but I can wait by and look into them again. I do not fear their being ever dim to[o], Yr ever dear, Barney.

My business detained me, till dinner time, yesterday in Cola, and Izard and I, had to travel down pretty much all the way after dark, with Izard all the while, whenever in a rather dark place on the road, crying out “mind your other Eye Papa—if that gets hit you will look magnificent.” I am happy to say however, that my Eye is nearly well.

I am sure, if I had fol...