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29 Beaufort St, Chelsea:- Has seen his mother's letter to Charlie; is glad to hear the journey 'has been so far so delightful'. Wonders if they will go on to Ravenna; since the weather is fine, he hopes they will. Once had 'an hour' in Bologna, 'chiefly a flying visit to the gallery'; thought that it 'with its collonades [sic] and fascinating though somewhat ugly towers seemed quite unlike any other town in Italy', and would have liked to see more of it.

Hopes to see Charles today: has not seen him for a long time. Bernard Shaw came to dinner with them [Robert and Roger Fry] recently: they had 'the greatest difficult in getting him to eat or drink anything', and he would 'scarcely eat' a risotto they had 'specially prepared for him, because he detected a flavour of animal gravy in it'. Shaw 'made up for his fastidiousness by talking the whole evening', and Robert 'was very glad to listen'; has written a one act play about Napoleon [The Man of Destiny, first performed in Nov 1897], and has been 'studying military history for some time'. Robert thinks he ought to 'turn out something original in the Napoleonics'.

Roger has 'practically finished his portrait of Mrs W[iddrington?]', having 'considerably altered the face' since Robert's mother saw it, 'when it was very unsatisfactory'; Robert now thinks it 'very good'. To Roger's 'great amusement', the 'O. B. [Oscar Browning]' has commissioned a portrait from him.

Saw the Holman Hunts last Sunday; they were 'charmed' by the flowers his mother sent them. The 'old boy is painting a picture which promises to be the ugliest he has yet done. It has great merit in many ways, but in his old age he he seems to have lost all idea of what combinations of colours are beautiful'. Is going this evening to a 'Mottle concert [one conducted by Felix Mottl?]': has not heard except the Mikado for a 'dangerously long time*. Hopes his father is 'enjoying himself, and is reading his Dante regularly'.

29 Beaufort St, Chelsea:- Thanks his mother for her letter and the MS; is glad she likes it. Hopes to finish it when he is 'next in the country [Italy?] where alone it can or ought to be finished'. Roger [Fry] has had a bad cold 'at a most unfortunate moment', having gone to Ipswich to lecture 'against [Robert's] advice, which of course made him worse' and has had to keep to his room for two days. Roger must send in his pictures to the New English Art Club tomorrow, and 'will not have time to do all he would like', though he is well enough to work today.

Is 'getting on well with [his] Jacobean reading'; has now got the play he told her about [Cecilia Gonzaga] 'into final shape' in his mind, and has written a 'good deal of Act I', but it will need 'recasting' as he has 'altered the whole idea and proportion of the plan to some extent'. His own cold has been entirely gone for several days: the walk he took 'so unwittingly' with her was the 'prelude to its departure'.

'Hungry Bumpus shall be fed': asks his mother to thank Bo[o]a [Mary Prestwich] for the butter she sent. Is 'wearing the thick vests now' and 'hopes to keep colds at a distance' now the weather is much warmer. Has just had a 'cheerful letter' from George, but has not seen Charles since his mother left; expected he 'would be at the Booths' [Charles and Mary?]' at their 'Sunday evening meeting yesterday', but was not; must 'look in at G[rosvenor] C[rescent] to see how he is faring'.

Adds in a postscript that he will be 'glad to go with Papa to the play when he comes, either Pinero [The Benefit of the Doubt?] or the Mikado'; hopes his father is well.

8 Grosvenor Crescent, S.W. - They are again having bad weather, but are all well, though Julian has a 'slight cold'. They are dining with the H[enry] Y[ates] Thompsons tonight, and may perhaps go on to Charles's At Home, where they will 'see plenty of politicians, and hear how things are going. The Estimates look very bad', with the 'only comfort' being that 'the stand made by the Treasury seems to have reduced them considerably'.

Was pleased by the review of his book [The New Parsifal] in the Times, by Clutton-Brock; likes to think his praise was 'justified'. As for Clutton-Brock's 'regrets' that Robert writes 'only for a small and hyper-cultured audience, no one shares them more completely' than Robert himself. However, if the opera [The Bride of Dionysus] he has written with Tovey is performed, 'as it probably soon will be in Germany', it is possible that they might collaborate again 'on a comic opera, which would have to be more on the scale of a Gilbert and Sullivan, or an Offenbach'. Robert's latest play, and Sisyphus, are 'too long and too elaborate for opera'. For the present, though, he and Tovey are both busy with other things.

It was a 'great pleasure' to him that his father liked Parsifal so much. He and Bessie are very glad to hear that his father's book [George III and Charles Fox] is finished; Robert looks forward to 'reading it as a whole'. Bessie sends love.

8, Grosvenor Crescent, S. W. - Will take tickets for "The Mikado" [by Gilbert and Sullivan] tomorrow; George is not coming; they will dine punctually at seven, and have a bottle of hock. Wants to talk to Robert about Ravenna.