In this letter, Clara Schumann writes to her daughter Elise about life in London, and looks forward to the upcoming visit of Elise and another daughter, Marie. She describes the bitter cold of winter, reports suffering from an ongoing, severe tooth­ache, and comments on the difficulties of living in a foreign country. She asks that her daughters bring with them a few “nice things” (“schöne Sachen”) for her, because she feels that everything in London is expensive. Clara provides news of her other child­ren, including Ferdinand, Felix, and Julie, and expresses regret that she and Elise can’t be together on Elise’s birthday.