Wallington, Cambo, Northumberland. - Glad Jan Hubrecht is visiting England; hopes he will see Cambridge and enjoy his time with Elizabeth and Robert; will be good for him after his illness. Is sending the Christmas present directly to the Mill House as [Mary] Prestwich does not have room in the hamper; there is also a pair of slippers which she has made. Hopes Elizabeth will use the purse [?] at once, in London and the Hague. Glad she is trying new ways to do her hair, and that her cough has gone.
Expects Aunt Margaret [Holland] 'would be much amused by a "Dolmetsch"'; Caroline and Sir George are reading her book [Life and letters of Zachary Macaulay] with much interest; Zachary was 'rather boring ' but 'did a great work' and the life is well written and edited. Sir George is very glad Elizabeth likes Persuasion; he thinks 'the offer is the best in fiction'. Caroline is reading Mrs Humphry Ward's Eleanor, whose novels always interest her though she feels 'critical about them'; Sir George 'cannot abide them'.
Robert's sonnet is 'very pretty'; asks whether Elizabeth could get him to write one about the [Second Boer] war like William Watson, as he feels so strongly; thinks it would do good. Expects she has seen George's letter in the Westminster and Charlie's to the Times; Charlie has also making good speeches and getting his views known. Asks her to thank Robert for his letter about the portraits; there is no hurry as they will not be back till Easter, but thinks Sir George would sit if she urged him to. Glad Elizabeth's aunt is improving; her visit will cheer her.
