228 - HUGO (Victor).

HUGO (Victor). Autograph letter signed "Victor Hugo," Hauteville House (Guernsey), July 21 (no year), 1 p. and ½ in-8 on blue paper, to Mr. (Léon or Gaston) Bérardi, editor of the Brussels daily *L'Indépendance belge*: “Dear Mr. Bérardi, I will be away for a month or five weeks, to get a change of scenery, so as not to displease the doctors, who know nothing but how to prescribe and who imagine that after *Les Misérables* I must be exhausted. But I haven’t forgotten that you almost promised to let me spend a few days at Hauteville House around September, and I’ll make sure to be back by then. [...] You are a steadfast and warm friend to me; I need to shake your hand, I need to exchange ideas with your noble and generous spirit, I need to chat and smile with you; that will be the best rest for me after fatigue and the greatest joy after the struggle. What a pity that Madame Bérardi cannot accompany you! How I would have laid my old ocean monster—and myself—at her feet!” And in a postscript: “You will stay in Charles’s room, and your presence will be a great celebration.”