Thanks Bob for sending "Windfalls" as a gift: the essays are 'delightful' and have the 'intimacy and the graciousness of [Charles Lamb's?] Elia'. Has increasingly enjoyed Bob's later work, which he thinks has 'grown in humanity steadily'. Very grateful for the criticism, such as that on 'the movement of Shelley', which he has always appreciated; believes timing to be 'the secret of humour and drama' and 'greatness of acting or of wit'. Imitated R[obert] L[ouis] S[tevenson]'s 'admirable' technique in his own mountain stories. They [he and his wife] move to London in October '[w]orn out by Camb[ridge] climate', and hope to see Bob and Bessie there at 12 Holland Street. Postscript saying that George's great book ["English Social History"] has 'put the cap-stone on his reputation and unique position'.
Title not given; first line 'Yet, O stricken heart, remember, O remember'.
20 Somerset Terrace, (Duke’s Road, W.C.).—Discusses forthcoming meetings, and asks for a copy of his Echo leader. Describes a luxurious supper.
—————
Transcript
20 Somerset Terr.
Sunday, 5. 4. 01
Dear Mr Lawrence,
I am sorry that I cannot be present at the Meeting tomorrow, especially as there are so many interesting points to bring forward—the Blatchford idea for one, and the idea about specializing in an industry and working up advertisements with reference to it. But as I shall not see you, I have a word to say about Friday. I remembered after sending off a hasty reply to you on Saturday that Friday is the day of our Meeting for “The Greene Ladie” at Lady Montague’s. That doesn’t matter except—we had better fix the hour for 7 instead of 6 o’clock. I hope this will not shorten the evening. I hope Mr Sauer will not be in haste to leave. Percy will be at that Meeting, and of course will come back with us. I am writing him a note by this post.
I missed the Echo yesterday—(Sat.)—was your leader in it?—if so you might send it me from the office “gefälligst”.
I am sending you one of my works tomorrow written nearly 7 years ago. I read it today—it turned up—and was amused and I think you will be to see that I had not got very far away from it after all these years! If you have nothing better to do—vain surmise—you can read it in the train on Thursday; only send it back to me as it is my sole copy.
Last night I returned to what should have been a fireless and dark home! to find what looked like a bit of conjuring: the fire bright—the lamp lit—a dainty supper spread—a little bottle of wine—strawberries and cream—and in the oven a great salmon trout done to a turn—with hot plates & everything just ready. “Is it my fault,” I said, “if I lose my immortal soul?” “Have I not striven not to be a pampered woman?” And all the while in my heart of hearts I loved it—the luxuries themselves perhaps, but certainly the fairy tale, which suited my fancy quite. (This is a secret, by the way.) Have you read R. L. Stevenson’s Vailima Letters? If not, you oughter. Talk about a temperament! “But,”—you will say—“we are not talking about temperaments or didn’t oughter be; this is the Echo Office and nothing is allowed here but business.” “Kindly keep to the point, Madam.” Oh well then, the point is—briefly—that I remain sincerely,
Emmeline Pethick
Talking about “the Apostle” and “the degradation of labour”, the enclosed little note may interest you to see. This is the side of the Apostle that his comrades in work know best. This is written after a party that my children gave to their parents, when A. S. was present.
The Master's Lodge, Jesus College, Cambridge - He will be very busy with visitors during May week, so won't be able to see much of them; J.G.'s address is charming, spent a holiday on the Gareloch with an uncle and aunt and met R. L. Stevenson, who lived on the other side of the water; his success in life is due to Scotch thrift.
10 Prinsegracht, Hague; addressed to Bob at Penmenner House, The Lizard, Cornwall and forwarded to him at 3 Hare Court, Inner Temple, London. - Will study the patterns Bob has sent her and send them to London, with her choice for his 'nuptial trousers' and travelling suit. Will speak again to her uncle about Bob's objections to writing himself to the consul [Henry Turing]. Entreats Bob for Sir Henry House and his wife not to be invited to the wedding breakfast: her uncle and aunt, who will send out the invitations, do not know the Howards at all so it does not matter that they are 'very distant relations', while their presence would give 'a different ton to the whole business' and make her miserable. It is also likely that Grandmont and Bramine would not come if the Howards were invited, due to their objection to 'jingos'. Does not see it as necessary to invite the Howards, unless Bob's parents wish it especially. Sometimes wishes they could marry 'quietly without anyone near', though knows it could be a lovely day with happy memories; wishes people could 'take it easier'. Returns to the letter after a walk with her aunt, who agrees with her about having to give up part of her musical interests after marriage; understand what Bob means, and thinks she may have expressed herself too strongly in her first letter [9/45], which is the 'wretched side of correspondence'; will wait until she sees him to discuss it. Sees what Bob means about Mrs [Helen] Fry's cigarette smoking; cannot quite feel as he does yet; knows she does have 'a great and natural tendency to rectilineal & rather exclusive argumentation'; hopes she can 'suspend judgment' as Bob says. Does not know enough about German literature to comment on what he says about German literature, but emphasises the advantage, 'which the English nation as a whole is slow & rare in acknowledging' of being able to talk to foreigners in their own language; as an example, it was a real shame that Bob and [Julius Engelbert] Röntgen were unable to converse properly; this is why she was so disappointed when he once refused to learn as 'it seemed such an insular British way of looking at it'. Ordered the book [Stevenson's "The Suicide Club"] for Jan [Hubrecht] and he was very pleased. Mr Kattendijke and Mr Loudon are coming to make music this afternoon. Lula [Julius Röntgen] is recovering from his severe illness. Joachim is going to play with his quartet in Amsterdam next Saturday, and Mien has got her a ticket; will stay with Mrs Guye [or Guije], Gredel's mother; would love to go to the supper party the Röntgens are having for Joachim after the concert but expects Mien has too many guests to invite her. Is glad not to see Bob with his beard, and hopes he never decides to grow one. Asks who Jacobi is, and for Bob to tell him what 'the Cambridge Moore [i.e. George] thinks of his play.
12 Pembroke Gardens, Kensington, W. - Asks for permission to include Trevelyan's poem about a peacock in an anthology he is editing on birds with Stanley Makower; afraid the publishers will not pay, but any acknowledgement required will be made. The anthology will be mostly 'old masters' but they want some modern poems, which are not easy to obtain; George Meredith's publishers have declined, but he is almost sure of permission for one by 'Toby Brown (the Manx poet)' [sic: T. E. Brown] and hopes to get 'a Stephenson [sic: Stevenson?] and a Henley'. Oswald [his brother' is at Sidmouth for a week.
10 Prinsegracht, Hague; addressed to Bob at Penmenner House, The Lizard, Cornwall. - Thinks Bob must not have got her letter of Tuesday [9/46]; hopes someone will send it on. Thanks him for writing his note before setting off and for the drawing of the eye. Hopes he does not mind that she is writing so frequently; asks him to say what he thinks of the music box, for which she has written to thank Mrs Price [Bob's aunt]. Alice Jones and her brother Herbert are coming to the Hague on the 26th, after a trip to Dresden; has not seen Alice since 1895, and Herbert since 1893 when he came home from the holidays and ate all her 'hopjes' [Dutch sweets] 'in one sitting' (he later sent her a box of Cambridge ginger sweets at school). Is going out for a slow walk with her aunt soon as the weather is 'heavenly'. Tomorrow is Jan [Hubrecht]'s birthday; she wants to order [Robert Louis] Stevenson's "Suicide Club" for him, and will tell him it is a present from them both. Will probably have another lesson with [Bram] Eldering next week, then may go to see an aunt at Hilversum and her [half] sister who is married to a doctor [Henriette]. Poor Lula [Julius] Röntgen has been very ill and cannot go yet to Berlin to start work. Tuttie [Maria Hubrecht] does not plan to return before 20 or 25 May as she wants to spend time at Florence on the way back; perhaps Bob could come over just before she arrives.
Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - Thanks Robert for his 'jolly letter'; will re-read [Trollope's] "Framleigh Parsonage" [sic: "Framley..."] again soon, perhaps aloud to Caroline. They are currently alternating between "The Wreckers" [R. L. Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne's "The Wrecker"?] and the "[Roman] Journal" of Gregorovius. Is himself reading Anatole France's "L'Orme du Mail", some of which he thinks as good as Balzac, just as aspects of "La Reine Pédauque" are 'like the best Voltaire'. In a postscript, says that he too voted for Jim Butler [for the Cambridge University constituency] but 'in such a General Election as this an "Independent" has no chance'.
29 Beaufort St, Chelsea [on headed notepaper for the National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place S. W.]:- Thanks his parents for their 'joint letter'. The weather here has suddenly turned 'almost absolutely perfect, at least for December', and the 'nights are wonderfully lighted by this full moon'. Florence must be 'gorgeous by moonlight'; wonders if they ever go to 'the portico where the David used to be and think of the poor painter of Henry James' Madonna of the Future, who was found there by night', but expects they go to bed 'quite early'. Dined recently with the [Yates] Thompsons, and Harry 'pretended to be indignant' that the Trevelyans had not gone to a hotel he had recommended; he 'was in a familiar, you-be-damned sort of mood', since there was no-one there but the Wilberforces, Spring Rice and Robert. Dolly 'had to reprove him for swearing at table before his guests'; thinks 'the Canon was rather shocked by his way of going on'.
[Edward Ernest] Bowen has given a 'lecture to the school [Harrow] upon the American Secession & Civil War', speaking 'for nearly two hours without becoming embarrassed or stumbling over a single word'; they say that throughout 'the excitement was so intense that you could have heard a fly's buzz'. At the end 'they got up and cheered him till it was thought they would never stop. They had not realised before what he was'. [Roger] Fry has a commission to paint 'a certain Smith Barry, the brother of the notorious M.P'. He has almost finished his lectures; he set 'certain passages in Browning's Fra Lippo to be annotated', which contain 'several bad blunders as to dates etc': '[m]ost of the young ladies trip up prettily into these pitfalls, taking it for granted that Browning must be right.
Robert 'quite agree[s] about Dante's deliberate purpose of making a great literary success', though thinks this would be 'indignantly repudiated by most of his idolaters'. It is 'very dull' in England at the moment; as far as Robert can tell people talk of 'nothing but Armenians.[a reference to the massacres in the Ottoman Empire]... and the Vailima letters [written by Robert Louis Stevenson to Sidney Colvin between 1890 and 1894, and recently published]'.
Wallington, Cambo, Morpeth. - Asks Robert if he knows the whereabouts of a copy of [Dickens's] "Barnaby Rudge", and the "Harrow Atlas of Ancient Geography" which he very much misses; has found an entry in the list of lent books indicating that Robert had these, but the initials have been crossed out. Has just finished Conrad's "Rescue"; seems a 'strange delusion' that people consider him out of the ordinary, and rank him with writers such as 'Arnold Bennett, Wells, Mrs Sidgwick, Shaw, Kipling, and Stevenson'; he is of course clever, 'but he does not know how to tell a plain, or an impassioned story'; read "Chance" aloud to Caroline, which amused him despite 'the upside down of the narrative', but can read nothing else of his with pleasure. Sends birthday wishes.
Refers to the forwarding of a book to R.L. Stevenson. States that he would have sent it from Budapest. Suggests that he send it to Stevenson's publishers, with a letter asking them to forward it, and that he send money to cover the costs also. According to Sidgwick's 'Postal Guide', the cost of sending a package to 'Navigators Islands [Samoa]' is one penny for every two ounces. Offers to take care of it if Patterson forwards it to him.
Grimsby Farm, Long Lane, Coldash, Newbury. - Hopes Trevy has received the letter he wrote to Naples, otherwise he will think Marsh 'rather a beast'. Glad Corpo di Cava was not snowed under, since it has turned out to be 'so delightful'; he himself would have 'preferred Capri for the sake of Tiberius' [see 15/318]. Has just got away from London and finished his first day of work here; his 'flesh crept to such a degree' when he woke on Monday night and started to think about his tripos [examinations] that it 'must have moved on about an inch all round'. Stayed in London a little longer than he should have done because of a 'superior French company' who performed [Ibsen's] "Rosmersholm" and "Master Builder" and a play by Maeterlinck under the direction of M. [Aurélien-François-Marie] Lugné -Poé who 'seems to be a descendant of Edgar Poe'. He is 'a very beautiful man with a pale face & black hair', and reminds Marsh of a 'portrait of some poet', perhaps Poe himself; he 'acts very respectably' and played the Master Builder as 'an American with a straggling beard & a drunken complexion' and 'quite revolutionized' Marsh's idea of the part, since 'the rather vulgar arrogant manner he put on in certain parts' made the character seem more consistent than 'the suavity of Lewis Waller'. Asks if Trevy has ever read Maeterlinck, as it is 'useless to try and explain what he's like' if not; in the 'mixture of great simplicity with an entire rejection of realism' he thinks it goes back to 'the Burne Jones & Morris kind of thing'. Sat next to William Archer, who was 'very nice' to him. Saw many friends at the Ibsen plays: [Erskine] Childers, Crompton [Llewelyn Davies], Gerald Duckworth, J[ohn] Waldegrave, 'the Babe' [William Haynes Smith?] etc. Thinks the Independent Theatre must be 'the worst managed concern in the world': the performances usually begin late 'after the curtain has gone up two or three times, to encourage the audience. You're never safe from the irruption of a cat in the most moving scenes', the actors miss their cues, or the curtain does not go down at the end of the act. The man who is called the Acting Manager [Charles Hoppe] is 'the greatest crook [he] ever met with in a responsible position', who seems unable to sell tickets without asking for assistance and did not even know how many acts there were in "Rosmersholm". Marsh took the Verralls to that play; comments on Arthur Verrall's reaction to theatre: 'he never is, or lays himself out to be, in the least moved by a play' but responds to 'the cleverness or stupidity with which it is written'.
Very glad that George [Trevelyan] got his scholarship, though there was no doubt he and Buxton would; 'very hard luck on [Ralph] Wedgwood. Went to see [Charles] Sanger yesterday in his new rooms at Hare Court. No-one has heard 'anything of [Bertrand] Russell for some time'. Only saw Oswald [Sickert], who had influenza, not serious, once; he has just got 'free from the Werner Company, which has used up the Beauties of Britain, & gone on to Paris [ie, finished publishing "Beautiful Britain]'; hopes he will have time for his novel now. [Maurice] Baring took Marsh to supper with Edmund Gosse on Sunday: a 'most amusing man', whose conversation is 'described in Stevenson's essay on conversation ["Talk and Talkers"] under the name of Purcell. He was in the teakettle mood'. Met [Henry] Harland, the editor of the "Yellow Book" there; thought him 'an awful little man', but 'on getting accustomed to his manner' next day he thought him 'like-able on the whole'. Hopes to go to supper next Sunday with 'the even more distinguished [Robert] Bridges', though he has not read his recent works so 'feels rather ill-equipped'. Met John Davidson briefly recently; he 'seemed a genial and light hearted little man, with a nice Scotch accent'.
Woolsthorpe Rectory, Grantham. - Has left his copy of [Meredith's] "The Egoist" in the bedroom he had at Wallington; asks Trevy to bring it to Cambridge. It is a wet Sunday, and he does not want to 'read any more Thicker for the present'. Has 'never enjoyed sightseeing so much' as on his trip to Edinburgh. Asks if Trevy has read [Robert] Louis Stevenson's book about the town ["Edinburgh: Picturesque Notes"]: 'quite astonishing how many things' Stevenson can do: he is 'Charles Lamb, as well as the writer of the "Wrecker"]. Asks if Trevy likes [Sir Walter Scott's] "Heart of Midlothian"; he himself has read it twice before but 'never liked it half so much' as he did in Edinburgh; also read an 'idolatrous life of Queen Mary' [Mary, Queen of Scots?]; notes that it is 'harder to fall in love with women the more real they are', moving from fictional characters 'such as Beatrice Esmond or Balzac's duchesses', through women from history, 'an actress in a part', and finally to 'actual women in real life'. Tells an anecdote as 'the strongest possible argument for the Return to Nature': a boy of three and a half staying with them in Yorkshire happened to come into Marsh's room when he had no clothes on and 'professed great pleasure at the sight'; next day at lunch the boy asked loudly 'why don't you come down naked? (he pronounced it nackéd) you really must not wear clothes'.
Seems he 'compromised [Arthur] Longhurst rather by relating this anecdote', as his mother asked him what was so funny in the letter. Longhurst 'passed in his [Sandhurst] exam, 3rd of the Varsity Candidate'; Marsh is proud of his coaching, as Longhurst got 90 percent in Latin and Greek. Is going to [Bertrand] Russell on 'Monday week'.
The Shiffolds, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking. - Hopes Julian [currently suffering from whooping cough] is 'now beginning to cough less'; two nights ago he had his worst coughing fit yet, 'but that did not last'; Robert will still be glad when he has quite recovered. Had an interesting time in Edinburgh: the opera [The Bride of Dionysus, with libretto by Robert and music by Donald Tovey] 'sounded very well, and people seemed to like it'. Mrs Tovey seemed well, and 'their adopted child is evidently a godsend. It is quite a fine child, and [Grettie Tovey] seems quite sensible with it'.
Is going to Cambridge on Saturday to see the production of Aeschylus [The Oresteia, in J. T. Sheppard's Greek production]. Expects he will go abroad with [Goldsworthy Lowes] Dickinson on 15 March, ending up in Florence, and returning in early May. Bessie will soon write about her plans. Is just finishing the 'story of Abraham [from the Bible, see 46/264] with Julian'; they also read some history and poetry together. Julian is 'going to read Treasure Island to himself now'.
Sends love to his father and to Booa [Mary Prestwich].
Hotel Bristol, Rome. - Has received Robert's letter with 'the ominous date of the Deux Decembre' [a reference to Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz, and the coup by Louis Napoleon in 1851?. Letter is TRER/46/37]. Describes his view of the Piazza Barberini and its 'bad but cheerful' Triton [fountain] by Bernini; it is the scene of one of the conversations in [Browning's] "The Ring and the Book", he thinks that of the 'Tertium Quid'. Did not go by moonlight to think about the man in "The Madonna of the Future" [by Henry James; Robert asked this question in his letter of 2 Dec], but thought of him there by daylight; curses those who had [Michelangelo's] "David" moved to the Academy [Galleria dell'Accademia]. Is going to buy a panorama of 'old Rome, under the emperors' by a German, which he is told is very good. Agrees with Robert about the Armenians [the massacres by the Ottomans], about which Lord Salisbury cannot get anything done, and about 'Valima' [Robert Louis Stevenson's letters to Sidney Colvin], which he cannot read. Is reading [Ferdinand?] Gregorovius with great interest: Caroline has sent for the two last volumes and a friend has lent the second. They have both read Robert's Sismondi carefully. Was much amused by the hustings speeches at the University of Dublin. Since beginning the letter he has received the panorama, and key in German; it was actually made into a panorama and set up at Munich, he supposes 'as a sort of centre of the Suevi and Teutones'.
Wengen. - Glad that Robert is pleased by what [the award of the Order of Merit to Sir George] 'gives them much pleasure'; has had many letters, and all the papers (which Romeike sends in 'shoals') including the Tory ones approve it. Knew nothing of it until receiving a letter from Lord Knollys; had 'only just time to telegraph acceptance'. Glad the nurse seems all right; hears that Julian is 'a glorious boy'. He and Caroline are reading their new edition of Stevenson's letters, of which Colvin has made 'an admirable and quite sufficient biography'.
The Shiffolds. - Her 'delightful present' came this morning with her letter: the letters [of Robert Louis Stevenson?] are 'indeed a charming book in every way, both inside and out', and he has 'long wished to have a good edition', since he has only read them 'in a desultory way'. Of course 'this edition with the new letters must be far the best': he and Bessie are looking forward to reading it this summer, and Robert is 'very grateful... for so delightful a present'.
Is glad she has had a good time abroad; supposes the weather has 'changed for the worse now', and it is still 'very unsettled' here. Julian has taken to the new nurse 'without much difficulty'. He can now walk very well, and his cold seems almost to have gone.
Robert has been to two funerals recently: on Saturday he went to Haslemere for the funeral of 'old Mr [Henry Graham] Dakyns', who 'died suddenly', and on Monday to Eastbourne for Jonathan Sturges' funeral. Will 'miss Sturges a good deal' though cannot regret his death, since 'he had a very lonely life, and was usually more or less ill'. His death will be sad for Henry James, 'who was perhaps more intimate with him than with anyone else'. Mr Dakyns will also be 'much missed' by Robert and Bessie, and many of their friends.
Saw Charles briefly in London yesterday, who 'seemed very well, and cheerful'. His mother must go to the Grafton Gallery exhibition ['A Century of Art, 1810-1910'] when she returns: the 'Preraphaelites are especially well represented'.
Tovey now seems to be getting on well with 'Ariadne' [The Bride of Dionysus]; they hope he will be able to come to the Shiffolds near the end of July and stay for August. Röntgen has been setting several of Robert's poems for a chorus of women's voices; he has not sent them yet, but. 'they are sure to be interesting, as everything he does is'. Robert hopes to assemble a book of short poems and translations this autumn; thinks he has enough, especially if he includes the first act of his and Bessie's translation of Vondel's Lucifer.
Is very glad his parents have had 'such a restful time at Mürren'; lucky that the H[enry] Y[ates] T[hompson]s happened to be there as well. Sends love to his father.
30, Bruton Street, W. - The news of Bob's engagement was 'most exciting and delightful'; found the letter as he was leaving home and was 'so thrilled by the first words that [he] read it under a lamppost, as Mr Gladstone read "Treasure Island"'. Bob's description is 'perfect', and Marsh has 'already chosen the costume to imagine [him] in, which will make [him] a Jarburg [?] young gentleman to the life'. Looks forward to meeting 'Mrs Bob', and as Bob says is sure they will have no trouble in making friends. Hopes Bob will draw as 'attractive a picture' of Marsh to her. Afraid this will give Bob an 'added reason for being miserable abt this awful war [the Second Boer War'; thinks he is lucky to be remote from news. The 'third bad defeat this week was announced this morning': London is 'deeply gloomy', all the conversation in the street is about the war, and his own 'official circle is even more despondent than the rest of the world'. This though makes it 'all the pleasanter' to think of Bob's happy feelings. Wishes he had said more of his future plans; hopes he will soon return to [his fiancée's] 'marshy fatherland'; wonders whether he will settle in England or near Amsterdam 'as Sanger hopes' and 'received the Brethren [Cambridge Apostles] from Saturday to Monday].
Savoy-Hotel, Ouchy-Lausanne. - Sent a card from Paris, which was hot and unpleasant; the heat continued till they reached the Jura and arrived in a thunderstorm. Today the weather is beautiful and the hotel is charming; they go to Les Avants tomorrow, and she hopes they will stay a few days. Sir George is 'very energetic' and needs to be held back or they would 'be round Switzerland in a fortnight'. They are taking tea with Hilda Trevelyan, who is staying in a nearby hotel. Is anxious to hear whether Elizabeth 'engaged the nice looking nurse'; would be very sorry if Nurse Catt had to leave altogether; hopes Julian has not been disturbed by the hot weather and that his 'little "freak" tooth has done no harm'. Lausanne very large now, with much new building going on. They have got a new music box. Glad Elizabeth got a good cart for Julian; hopes she received the money orders as Caroline 'ought to be responsible for his locomotion!'. Sends love to Robert; they have a new edition of Stevenson's letters which are 'delightful reading'.
Pension Palumbo, Ravello, Golfo di Salerno. - Apologises if his letter writing has fallen off; has been more absorbed in his work recently. Has received her New Year's letter; a delight to know she loves him so much; discusses separation and distance. The Straughn Davidsons came today, 'two brothers and the wife of one' [James Leigh Strachan-Davidson and either of George or William, his brothers?]; they are nice people, though they do break up his 'pleasant solitude'. Has not got on well with his writing recently; thinks he is stale and should take the day off tomorrow to read novels. Is going to bed now to read Stephenson's letters, which Davidson has lent him.
Returns to the letter next morning with a description of last night's dreams, one about eating a breakfast of 'the staple diet of trout in a pond', and another about kissing an unknown young lady. Some of Stevenson's letters are well worth reading; thinks he was 'a pleasant fellow with a real streak of genius', though does not join in the 'prevalent R.L.S. worship'. Asks if she knows "Treasure Island", "[The Master of] Ballantrae" and his short stories. If the forecast is correct and they are due 'some dirty weather', the Strachan-Davidsons will be an 'acquisition'. Has skipped on to the second act of his play, and is 'plugging away at the faithful wife'; the difficulty is the villain, who is 'a plausible gentlemanly kind'. Encloses a dried beetle which he found 'in that state' on his cliff; sends it in response to her almond, and has placed 'not a few kisses on his back'. Very sorry her aunt is so unwell. Glad Willy v[an] R[iemsdijk] is not going [to the Second Boer War]; does not know what is going to happen. Sorry that she is to have so little time with [Bram] Eldering; hopes she will be able to go on her return from England. Returns to the letter after 'midday tea'; has not yet heard from [Bernard] Berenson but thinks he will pay him a visit of a couple of days if he wishes. Has finished [Shorthouse's] "John Inglesant", which he now does not think is a real success; looks forward to being able to discuss such things with her in their own house. Quotes a music hall song of Eugene Stratton about love. Is not a natural letter-writer; she is much better than he is.
Gwalior Hotel. Gwalior. - Arrived here yesterday and leave tomorrow, probably for Ch[h]atarpur as guests of the Rajah, a 'great reader of Marie Corelli and Herbert Spencer'; hope to see a city near the capital where there are 'some fine Hindu temples' [Khajuraho?]. They are waiting from a letter from the Rajah and may not go at all; will go straight to Benares if so, then on to Gaya and Calcutta. They went up to the Fort this morning on an elephant; it is 'best to take a sea-sick remedy before starting', and he walked most of the way back. They saw some fine temples and a palace; the 'rock is rather like Orvieto, only larger' and the surrounding countryside is 'more beautiful' than North India usually seems to be. Tomorrow, they will be given a tour of the Maharaja's palace by his finance minister Sultan Ahmed Khan, a Muslim alumnus of Christ's Cambridge, who is married to an English lady. They have just heard from the Rajah of Chatarpur that he can be their host, so expects to reach Benares about Monday or Tuesday next week. Had a 'cheerful letter from Bessie' in the Netherlands by the last mail; the Bottomleys are 'comfortably settled in the Shiffolds'. Does not know when Bessie will go north again, but supposes she will fetch Julian back before long. Has been reading the [Robert Louis] Stevenson letters which his mother gave him; glad he kept them till now; thinks he likes the letters better than any of Stevenson's books. They make him want to be in England or on the Mediterranean 'a little too much', though he is having a 'splendid time' and is glad he came, since he 'certainly shall never come here again'. Still possible he may have a few weeks in Japan before his return, in which case they [he and Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson] would only stop a few days in China, at Hong Kong then Shanghai. Hopes the food at the Rajah's will be good, as they 'have not had very pleasant experience of Indian dinners so far'; he was quite ill after a dinner in Delhi. Sends love to his father and Julian; will write next mail from Benares.