July 28th 1886

Beauvoir

My dear Mrs. Comer,
I have been proposing to myself the pleasure of writing to you ever since my return, but unfortunately the measles have not dealt kindly with me but have left disagreeable sequela of weak eyes to remind me that one must pay nature's debts punctually, and that going to balls is not conducive to speedy and complete recovery.
You do not know how often I think about you and what a common thing it is for Father and me to talk over all the delights of our stay in Savannah, remembering Mr. Comer's and your great kindness to us both during our stay there.
As you can imagine, the gayety here is of the mildest description: riding parties, an occasional game of croquet or lawn tennis being about the general programme; however, this year the arrival of Sam Jones and his colleague, Sam Small, at the camp ground set all the coast society in a flutter. However, it is subsiding into its normal dullness now the two Sams are a thing of the past so far as we are concerned.
T he coast has a character of its own and always reminds me strongly of a line from Tennyson's "The Lotus Eaters": "In the afternoon they came unto a land, in which it seemed always afternoon." There is such a strange, sleepy atmosphere about the place, that even an old clock we have, has, in its second century of existence, learned too much wisdom to run against the tide of events and refuses positively to move its hands after half past one.
However, I must remember that in your useful busy life, you have less time to read than I to write and will, therefore bid you a good-bye, with best wishes and kindest regards for yourself and your charming family and renewed thanks for your beautiful hospitality, I am, dear Mrs. Comer

Very sincerely and affectionately,

Varina Anne Davis

Note: Samuel Porter Jones, called "Sam" Jones, 1847-1906, lawyer, American evangelist and revivalist, toured the United States beginning in 1885.