I had lost my child-wife and my childhood friend

I had lost my child-wife and my childhood friend As I sat hopelessly by his bed， a fisherman who had known me when Emily and I were Ottawa children， came to tell me he recognized the curly-haired sailor， whose body had been thrown out of the water by the waves． I went to see． And there on the beach where she and I had played， I saw Steerforth lying，with his handsome face on his arm． He would never smile at me or Emily again．

I was surrounded by too many ghosts to return to London and my old life． I was selfishly sad that I had lost my child-wife and my childhood friend，and sometimes I felt I wanted to die．So I left England， and travelled for many months in Europe． I lived in a dark， miserable dream， with no hope or interest in my future．

One evening I arrived in a village in Switzerland， and received a packet of letters that had been waiting for me． The first one I opened was from Agnes．She gave me no advice，but she told me simply that she trusted me to find a purpose in life，and that she would always be proud of me， and love me as a sister．