1784, 20 October

Home! I nearly fell to the ground and wept, so overcome was I with the emotion of a return to England after so many months abroad. Father, who traveled with me, had to steady my knees and my nerve by taking hold my arm as we disembarked the ship at Dover. Having never left England before, I had never before experienced the glorious return to my homeland. I had not expected the many powerful emotions that washed over me as we stepped onto English soil.

Of course, I recall all the reasons I fled home nearly a year ago. But those reasons seem small in comparison to the gut wrenching lurch of longing I felt when father suggested it might be time to head back to the place of my origins and the family that loves me.

Oh the joy, the sheer unblemished joy I experienced upon seeing our home On St. Martin's Street! I knew at once that home was precisely where I most needed to be. Nothing here has changed one iota since I walked out the front door that sad morning last winter. Mama dearest is the same as ever, as are her spawn. Of course my dear sisters were here to greet me and they are as loving as ever. Father is still the gay charmer, flitting about town, sharing his talents and expertise. I have not had the pleasure of running into Mr. Cambridge and that is good, I think. I am not at all sure I'm ready to face that particular pain, particularly with the pain of Mr. Lt. Badeau still gnawing at my soul. Luckily, I am unlikely to run into him in England. George is another story. Or at least he could be. For that reason, I will not avoid him but will also not seek him out.

Of course, my first foray out of St. Martins St. will actually take me out of London. Though I yearn to stay here indefinitely, I yearn even more to see Dr. Johnson who is currently in Oxford with his friend, Boswell. I understand he is not well, the surgery for gout having left him rather weaker than before. I hope I can persuade him to come home to London where he is sure to receive finer medical care and where his many friends can visit regularly.

And now I must close this diary and face the dragonette (Mother Dear ) in her lair. She insists that I take tea with her and Sarah. I'm sure it will be an occasion to remember for the ages.