Copenhagen the 14the April 1857.
Dear, delightful Charles Dickens.
Your letter has made me infinitely happy. I am quite full of and overcome with joy at the thought of being with yo for a short while, nay, being in your house, being one of your circle! You do not know how much I appreciate it, how I thank God, you, and your wife in my heart. Tell her, tell the children, little and big, what festive days these will be to me; and yet, in the midst of my infinite delight I have a grief, yes, I may as well tell you beforehand, for it is a thing that will make itself felt at once when we meet, I speak English very badly, yes, I am afraid worse than when I was last in your family circle; then I had been about three months in England, now I have not been there for ten years, have no occasion to practise speaking the language at home, and I am coming straight from my Danish country over to you.
As to expressing myself I shall be a veritable Casper Hauser, and this causes me some distress; but my longing and love of seeing you and talking to you as well as I am able, conquers both my vanity and my fear of not being able to speak well; I am sure, too, that I shall likewise make great progress in the language, when once I am with you. I expect to arrive on the loth or the 12th J line, you shall have more exact in¬formation, however, of the day I arrive; but will you please in the course of the first weeks of May let me know the address on the railway line between Dover and London at which I am to alight, and where I shall find your house there. So then I shall not read the conclusion of "Little Dorrit" till I am in England; but how delightful, in your home! God bless you for it, and for everything you give us all; you have a circle of admirers, ever so large, in the high North; still, I believe that no one can love you more dearly than I; but, then, what blessings and what sunshine you spread in my life.-Now, do not lose patience because I try to express myself, ponderously and awkwardly, in English; really express myself as I wish to do, I could not, even if I spoke English like an Englishman. Affectionate, heartfelt greetings to your wife, daughters, and sons. God willing, we shall then meet in June.
Your grateful, faithful friend
H. C. Andersen.