Letter 3041: The strength of my health is beginning to rally — it is only fair that a steady stream of letters should now be...

The strength of my health is beginning to rally — it is only fair that a steady stream of letters should now be expected from me. Let this recovery hold, though winter's harshness often threatens it. The process of convalescence is extremely delicate and fragile, and health looks for the aid of milder skies before the doctors' hands can do their work. You must think I have made the art of healing responsible for the length of my illness! I want us to break the memory of bad times with the charm of a joke. But I must also say something about Repentinus, an excellent young man, whose constant attendance I missed. His modesty, I believe, kept him away, when confidence drawn from your introduction should have brought him forward. Yet there will be a better occasion when he will understand that he should not have held back from a man whom your repeated testimonials had taught him to trust.

Valetudinis meae vigor coepit adsurgere: fas est, ut iam de me scribendi ad- sidoitas exigatur. maneat tantum sanitatis fides, quam plerumque soUicitat hiemis & iniuria. nimis enim tenera atque inbecilla est ratio convalescendi , et ante medicas manus opem caeli clementioris expectat sanitas. ne tibi videor medendi artem morbi fdiutumitatem dedisse. volo enim, ut memoriam malorum ioci venustate frangamus. sed iam aliquid etiam de Repentino optimo iuvene dicendum est, cuius ego adsidui- tatem desideravi; quam milii, ut arbitror, verecundia eius negavit, cum fiducia ex te 10 snmpta praestare debuerit. erit tamen copia melior, qua intellegat, non se debuisse deserere, quem frequenti testimonio tuo de se noverat credidisse. xxxx.