My dear Huxley

Your letter surprised me almost as much as M^r Rich’s first one; & part of it gave us all a real good laugh.¹ I thank you most heartily for writing & so kindly, for we were dying with curiosity to know what sort of man M^r Rich was. We inferred rightly from the very nice & delicate letters which he wrote, that he was a thorough gentleman, & that was all which we could make out.— It seems a great shame that he should leave his fortune to me, who am well provided; but I told him in my first letter that I was what might be called a rich man, & that the knowledge of this might alter his intention, but it has not done so: I told him, however, that I had 5 sons & that two of them were too great invalids ever to gain any income, so that I was very glad of an addition to my fortune.—² I have offered to go to an inn at Worthing in the spring with my wife, & thus see him, for he told me in answer to an invitation that he could not come here.³

Altogether it is an extraordinary affair, but as he consulted so good & true a friend as you have ever been to me, it does seem quite so strange as it appeared at first.— It has pleased me greatly in many ways & especially on my childrens account, for it is improbable that I myself should ever receive his property.⁴

My dear old friend | Ever yours | Charles Darwin