Pièce 118 - Letter from Sophie Weisse to Elizabeth Trevelyan

1 item. Hotel notepaper with printed sketch of the view across the lake, mountains named.

Hotel Hirschen Gunten. Direkt am Thunersee, Berner Oberland. - Has enjoyed the unexpected pleasure of having Donald [Tovey] here with her; the weather has been beautiful and he has got on very well with his work, getting through 'a slow movement which had stuck for months'. He has brought over twice as many clothes as he needs; John [his adopted son?] has packed them all beautifully but she asks Bessie to have his soiled underwear taken away, and exchanged for the clean he has with him. Also asks if she could insist on his going to his tailor's in London to be refitted, as nothing he has fits and he 'looks as if he were trussed' which is also bad for him. He has his mother's figure and 'could look very fine and majestic' if his clothes only fit properly; is eating simply and drinking little. John [Wellcome Tovey] is going to Bern with him and Andrew Fell tomorrow to set them on their journey; Donald will stay the night at Karlsruhe, dining with Sophie Weisse's cousin, then depart for London. His skin is a 'nightmare' for her: its 'unsightliness... shocks many people', but she also fears erysipelas and resulting serious illness; a 'rheumatic climate like Hedenham is the worst possible for him', along with his lack of exercise.