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The Shiffolds, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking. - He and his family are all going to London tomorrow for two nights; they will go to the circus at Olympia on Tuesday. Julian is very well, 'seems to have been happy at school, and to have got on well with his lessons'; he has 'of course... had his difficulties', but they seem to have been less than they feared. [Henry] Festing Jones is staying with them for three days, and is 'very pleasant company'.

Bessie is just now finishing reading [The Casting Away of] Mrs Lecks and Mrs Aleshine [by Frank Stockton] to Julian, who 'laughs at it a great deal; they have already read Rudder Grange [also by Stockton], as well as 'The Pickwick Papers. Next they are going to read David Copperfield. There is a thaw here presently, and all the snow has gone.

Robert is currently 'deep in Aeschylus, filling in the gaps in [his] translation', but he always has, and 'always shall delight in Euripides' [whom his father has been re-reading, see 12/326], especially Medea, Bacchae and Hippolytus and some others. Also has a 'weakness for the Alcestis', which was the first Greek play he ever read, and 'always seemed... perfect of its kind', with 'especially beautiful' choruses'.

He and Bessie are much looking forward to their visit to his parents; sends his love to his mother, and to Aunt Annie, from whom they had a 'delightful visit' last week.

Pension Palumbo, Ravello:- Has little to say, as life is ‘quite uneventful’. They [he and the Frys] usually have the place entirely to themselves. Visited Mrs Reid’s garden the other day: it is ‘not so fine and big as the Cacciolas’, but has some nice trees’, and he will go to sit there occasionally. Mrs Reid has said he can go whenever he likes, though she herself is too ill to be called on at the moment. Believes the ‘present Lacaita [Charles Carmichael Lacaita]’ is her nephew. There are ‘many other places’ he can go, ‘especially a garden at the top of the cliff’.

The Frys ‘usually spend their day in their studio’; Roger has just had ‘rather a bad cold’, but Robert thinks Helen ‘is all right’. They ‘read Don Quixote aloud in the evenings, having first read ‘the beginning half of [The Casting Away of] Mrs Lecks & Mrs Aleshine [F. R. Stockton]’ which they found here. Robert has done a lot of work since coming here; there has been good weather, except for ‘three wet days last week’.

Has received her letter, and the bills: it was quite right of her to open those. His letters have now begun to ‘come direct’. Is glad his father is ‘keeping well’, but wishes ‘he would not go back [to London?] too soon’. Does not yet know when he will go to Florence, but does not think it will be for some time; expects he will not stay there long. He and the Frys may visit Naples soon; does not know how long George will be there, but expects he will have left by the time they go.