Letter 6072: You tried a clever trick to excuse your silence: you claimed you were holding back bad news as long as things were...

You tried a clever trick to excuse your silence: you claimed you were holding back bad news as long as things were going well, so that what you'd hidden by not writing would eventually come out under happier circumstances. But the bad news hadn't escaped me -- I'd heard it through other channels -- and the good news arrived painfully late. Your silence only fed suspicion that something worse was being concealed. Still, I can't stay angry now that the charm of your present letter has erased the memory of past hurt. Just remember to put the duty of writing at the very top of your priorities. Otherwise the memory of this episode will make me fear, the next time you go quiet, that more bad news is being held back. Farewell.

Eleganti commento silentiam yestram pai^are volaistis: allegata est enim caa- 10 tela tristiam nantioram, qaamdia secanda saccederent, at ea, qaae intermissio scrip- tionis ante celaverat, laetioribas indidis proderentar. sed nobis et illa per nantios incognita non faerant, et haec sera admodam visa sant. aagebat enim ramoram li- centiam saspicio cessantis ofGcii. et tamen sascensere non possamas, postqaam gra- tia praesentium litteraram memoriam praeteriti doloris exemit. modo memento caram 15 stili inter praecipua et prima sortiri, ne huias exempli recordatio maiores denao nobis adferat metus, dam credimas sab expectatione melioram rursas aliqaa adversa reti- ceri. vale. LXX (LXXI).