Letter 86

It's a sign of your devotion that you take me to task for my silence. But please believe me: it was misfortune, not indifference, that kept me from writing for so long. I don't think you're unaware of how savagely fortune has treated me — it robbed me of my most loving and best of brothers. If, in time, the passage of days eases the weight of this grief, I'll resume my regular correspondence with familiar letters.

Religionis indiciam est, quod me tacitamitatis incessis. sed velim credas, infor- tnnii fuisse non volnntatis, quod din officio scriptionis abstinui. nec pnto ignorare te, & qaatenus in nos fortuna saevierit, quae me amantissimo atque optimo fratre privavit. proinde, si dies longior sensum tanti doloris exemerit, familiaribus litteris soUemnis cura praestabitur. Lxxxmi (Lxxvni).