L E T T E R S

684Letter Nr. 172[To Friend (unknown)]Aix, January 3, 1840 942My fault, my fault, my most grievous fault...I have nothing at all to say in my defense. I have offended, you shamefullyby not writing to you. This is a new argument that I am worth a great bignothing... Lord, have mercy on me!I am in Aix already more than a week. Today is Friday, the third ofJanuary. Thank God, my journey went without a hitch, but not without fatigue andconsiderable weakness. I left you on Wednesday, the 18 th943 . The next day Istopped in Cosne, where Hipolite Terlecki soon came to meet me. We spent avery pleasant day together, and slept overnight in the same lodgings. However, Ialso spent the day in bed, in order to gain needed rest.I continued my journey on Friday morning. I decided not to stop inNevers, for I have too many friends there. The simple exchange of greetingswould have been very difficult for me. Moreover, they would undoubtedly havekept me there longer. Therefore, I immediately took a seat on the stagecoach toLyon, and spent two continuous days and nights there. I arrived in Lyon onSunday morning, worn out physically; but a rest revived me somewhat, so that byTuesday morning, on the Vigil, I was able to move on to Avingnon, where Iarrived at nightfall of the same day.There is a marked difference of temperature here, not only from Paris, buteven from Lyon. I already began to breathe with noticeable relief and physicalsatisfaction 944 . The next day, the first day on the Feast , was also spent inAvignon. I attended services celebrated by the Archbishop in what was once the942 The date has been established by the postmark and the content of the letter.943 Jański left Paris December 18, 1839.944 B. Jański was seriously ill with consumption.