8, Grosvenor Crescent, S.W. - Glad Elizabeth is enjoying her visit and has seen the [Gilbert?] Murrays; is 'so fond of Mary'. Letters to G[eorge] and J[anet] should be sent to the Wards, staying at Villa Bonaventura, Cadenabbia, who will forward them on. The latest news of them is from Florence; they were 'very happy'. Has had 'such a nice note' from Miss [Mary?] Fletcher, and has asked Imogen to play, since they are coming [to Caroline's party]. Arrangements for meeting; including the concert they are going to together. Encloses an invitation to the party [?] in case Robert would like to ask [Henry] Previté; they should say if there is anyone else they would like to come. She and Sir George liked Mr Howells, and found Mrs Atherton amusing. Very glad Elizabeth found Mrs F [Helen Fry?] better, but it 'does not seem satisfactory'.
8, Grosvenor Crescent. - Glad that the Hardys [G. H. Hardy and his sister?] have arrived. Caroline mentioned La Croiz to the Arthur Elliots, as they are going to the Riviera at Easter, but could not tell them whether there were 'good drives' which is important as he is 'very lame'. The last days before [George and Janet's] wedding are most exciting; the Wards are 'wonderfully energetic' and their arrangements go well. Went to see the presents yesterday; there seemed to be almost as many as C[harles] and M[ary] had, though there were fewer presentations and large things. Janet had 'some very nice offerings from her girls, & many servants & poor people'; lots of books, silver, cheques; Janet's trousseau was 'nice and useful'. Hopes the weather at Oxford will be good. Caroline, Sir George and Booa [Mary Prestwich] are going down before the special train to be at the registry. She and Sir George have not been well; thinks Sir George was doing too much, so he is resting. The Duke of Cambridge has died, so there will be no question of going to Court tomorrow; is glad as it 'seemed so inappropriate'. Has a note from [Bramine Hubrecht at] Taormina saying that the things have been sent; hopes they will arrive soon. Hopes the concert went well. The H[enry] Y[ates] T[hompson]s 'would be sorry not to be able to stop'. They [the Liberals] have won another [by] election, and 'the Gov[ernment] are in a poor way'.
8, Grosvenor Crescent. - Hears that snow has fallen on some parts of the Riviera, and wonders whether Elizabeth and Robert have seen any. [George and Janet's] wedding is near, and the arrangements all seem to be made; she, Sir George, Charles, M[ary] and Booa [Mary Prestwich] are going early and will be at the Registry Office; the others are coming by a special train and will go to the college [Somerville?]; some people think the arrangements 'very queer' and others 'are enthusiastic about the novel kind of marriage'. She herself thinks it will be nice, and wishes Elizabeth and Robert could be there. George and Janet are going to a farm house in Surrey where the Wards used to spend their summers for ten days, and will then go abroad after having seen the furniture put into their house. Wonders when Elizabeth and Robert will return and whether the 'road [to their new house] business will be settled'; supposes they will want the building to begin as soon as possible. The clergy made 'most violent efforts against the progressives' in the London County Council election, but made little difference to the numbers. No one is sure whether there will be a general election soon; the government is 'absolutely discredited' and many of their own party are talking 'openly against them'. Emily Hobhouse has been to tea with her, having just returned from the Transvaal; Caroline is glad that she is to have a testimonial given her. They are going to Welcombe for about a fortnight on 29 March, then will return to London before they go abroad at Whitsun. Sir George is well, and 'reading busily for Vol IV [of "The American Revolution"].
8, Grosvenor Crescent. - Nice to hear of 'sunshine and flowers' from Elizabeth, as it is still very wintry here. Is glad to spend some time in London, see friends, and feel 'in the centre of things'. Charles, M[ary], G[eorge] and J[anet] often visit, and are all cheerful. George and Janet's wedding is fixed for 19 March; the Wards have taken a house at Oxford for a week for it, it is 'an original business' and she hopes it will satisfy everyone 'except the orthodox!'. Has paid Elizabeth's subscription to the [Grosvenor Crescent] Club, and seen the Secretary, who says its future will be 'settled next month' but she thinks it will carried on. Interested by Elizabeth's account of Madame Grandmont [Bramine Hubrecht]'s 'entertainment', and thinks it will be charming as 'the Italians have an artistic strain through all their vulgarity'. Does not think pipes [?] and jam will be useful [for bazaars], but would be glad if Madame Grandmont could send her five pounds worth of Taormina [embroidery and lace] work. Glad to hear the Frys are happier; has been very sorry for Roger Fry. Hopes Elizabeth and Robert will get the question of the road [to the house they are having built at Leith Hill] settled soon; annoying to have lost the winter for building. Wonders what Bob is writing; hopes their translation work is progressing. Politics very interesting, but she thinks the Government will hold on. Has no sympathy for either side in the [Russo-Japanese] War, and wishes 'they could both be beaten'.
8, Grosvenor Crescent, S.W. - Got Elizabeth's card this morning; almost hoped it would 'summon' her back [since the baby is due]; she and Sir George go [to Welcombe] by the 12.15 train. London is 'most gloomy' and the streets and shops are unpleasantly crowded. All that needs to be done is for Mckenzie to come and 'look down [Sir George's] ear'. Charles came yesterday evening; looked tired; hopes to leave on Thursday. Pauline 'can just walk'; Mary is well. Originally encloses a letter from Lady Rendel which 'may amuse' Elizabeth. Has seen nobody in town but H[umphry?] Ward and 'G. Russell' [George W. E. Russell?] whom she met whilst 'rushing about all day'.
Wallington, Cambo, Northumberland. - Has returned from a busy time in London; glad to see Elizabeth and Robert's letters to her and Sir George. Saw George, Janet, and the babies, who are 'very sweet'; also Mary, who is 'wonderfully well' and may have her baby at any time; the nurse is in lodgings nearby. They have been trying to settle their winter plans; asks if the 27 or 28 [November] would be a good time to visit, after her Comm[itt]ee meeting on the 27th. Asks how long Elizabeth's sister will stay. Will then return to Wallington for a week; they think they will come south before Christmas. Hope it will be fine for Sir George's shoot tomorrow; several people cannot come because of Parliament, but he has Humphry Ward, John T[revelyan?], and T. Taylor; Dorothy [Ward?] and several neighbours are also coming.
Does not think the women who have been imprisoned [for militant suffrage campaigning] are 'hysterical'; believes they arranged the '"demonstration"' and were sent to prison as they intended. Difficult to say what she thinks of such tactics: in many ways 'it does harm, decidedly; but in others it forwards the cause', keeping the subject alive as less dramatic campaigning cannot do, and arousing 'a great deal of sympathy among labour people'. Does not approve of their methods, but is reluctant to condemn them as she is 'not ready to suffer [herself] for the cause, in the way they are doing'. The [Women's Liberal] Federation are 'very much alive' and were busy from eleven till six on Tuesday; good to see so much energy. Is looking forward to seeing so much of Elizabeth and Robert. A postscript notes that she is 'ordering a piece of Toasting Cheese to be sent'.
Pen Rose, Berkhamsted. - Thanks Bob for telling Hodder and Stoughton's to send her the book [his translation of Aeschylus's "Oresteia"], which arrived on Friday; sends a postal order for five shillings in payment. Will send this copy to Sir Rennell Rodd, and when she receives the copy from Hatchard's it will go to her father; they both know the "Agamemnon" 'by heart', which she fears she does not. The translation is 'really grand'.
Pen Rose, Berkhamsted. - True that 'one does feel forlorn' when both parents have died: her father was 'such an old darling', and they had much in common. However, has to be glad for him as he had suffered a great deal; he is now buried beside her mother in 'that lovely old churchyard'. Thanks Bessie for the trouble she has taken about Mary; has seen the letter and they all think 'the Leiden lady sounded delightful'; believes Mary wants to visit in September.
Pen Rose, Berkhamsted. - Very glad for Bessie's long letter about the Netherlands; they will carry it wherever they go, one sheet for each of the five members of the party - Janet will keep the one about the food. '[D]ear old Bredius' is an old friend of her father's, so they will certainly visit him; will be very good to see Bessie's cousins [the Hubrechts?]. Sends her love to Caroline; Mary was 'delighted with her tip'/
11 Walton Street, Oxford. - Thanks from himself and Clare for Bob's poems ["From the Shiffolds"]; they congratulate him on the birth of a grandson. Lists his favourite poems; also has Bob's epistle to Lady Allen, which he 'reread with pleasure'. Asks whether he ever hears from the Lodges; has had no news from them since they left the country, though received a copy of Oliver's "The Candle". They have had 'a Christening and a Christmas', and all the children but the baby have 'gone to stay with Hester in the country'. Clare recovered well [after the birth] and is 'back in her kitchen'; they find that 'just looking after ourselves takes up almost all our time', though he still works a little in his studio, and has Bob's Ward's "Anthology" [of English verse] and other books 'for recreation'. Tells him to let them know if he is ever in Oxford. Uncle Desmond and Aunt Molly [MacCarthy] are here staying with the Cecils, and Belloc came down early in the year.
Pen Rose, Berkhamsted. - Thanks Bessie for her sympathy; it [the death of her mother] was a 'most terribly sudden catastrophe' as she had seemed much better, but she made 'one imprudent movement next morning, and the poor heart gave way'. Arnold had just time to see her, but Janet was 'an hour too late'; was very hard taking the news to their father in the nursing home. It is 'the sort of grief that makes one feel years older'; feels as if they grew even closer during her mother's last years of ill health; George and her children loved her too. Hardest for her father and Dorothy, so she must help them; his father is recovering slowly; they hope to bring him back to Stocks for this summer and then the house will have to be sold. Hopes that Bessie is having a lovely time with Julian in Holland; asks if she will go to Germany at all; accounts of 'all the misery east of Holland absolutely haunt one'. Her mother's penultimate public appearance was at a Save the Children meeting in Berkhampsted; her speech 'made a deep impression'.
Wallington, Cambo, Morpeth. - Wishes she and Bessie could have seen each other here, but expects the 'war economy régime' could not have coped with them both being their with their children. Agrees that George seems to have found work which 'suits him down to the ground': though he doesn't know 'the least bit how to tie up a wounded limb or give an anasthetic'; he seems 'to be the [emphasised] person that they all want to go with', and the Italians 'love him'. The brigade has already had a great reception at Turinl expects they will be at Udine or even nearer the front by now; there are sixty people, many 'old hands from Flanders', twenty-six cars, and a 'clearing hospital of fifty beds' so they should be 'tremendously useful'. She herself is returning to London next Monday for three weeks, while the Hon. Sec. [of the Committee for Relief in Belgium, Mary Childers?] has a holiday, and will be there over the winter; hopes they can meet there after Janet's house comes out of its 'curl papers' about 27 Sept. Asks Bessie to tell Bob his '"Foolishness of Solomon" has given her 'many delicious chortles'. Her children are well, but fears 'the tonsils operation still hangs over Mary - & possibly Humphry too'.
Stocks Cottage, Tring. - Luck more than 'a miracle' that she has found a governess, who came via the Gabbitas & Thring agency and is an 'Inverness girl' who studied French at Oxford for four years. Janet, on her way from Welcombe to Stocks, stopped and interviewed her, and 'engaged her walking up & down the platform' at the London & North Western station. The children are 'both delighted with her', and Janet thinks she will even be accepted by 'Nannie'. Her French is 'not really [emphasised] good' but distinctly above the average for British young ladies'; Mary has also started Latin with her and seems to pick it up easily. Their governess is only with them till the end of August; will be 'a bigger affair altogether' if Bessie wants to find one. Points out the success Molly has had with Miss Clark, who 'only sets out to be a nursery governess'; thinks Molly found her by advertising. Suggest that Bessie should come to live in London, where it would be 'quite easy to get Julian educated'; though if this meant 'letting the Shiffolds' she supposes it would 'break [their] hearts'. Going to Robin Ghyll next Monday; her parents have taken a little house at Grasmere till August; thinks her father is 'rather up & downing', and her sister Dorothy 'feels much tied to them', but they are happy to be in the Lakes. George's business in Rome seems to be going well; he is writing articles about it in the "Chronicle". Asks if they will see each other at Wallington in September.
Stocks Cottage, Tring. - Sweet of Bessie to write about the babies and their whooping cough; they have it 'quite slightly' and the doctor thinks it will last no longer than three months so she and George still hope to get to Wallington, probably towards the end of August. They are going to Robin Ghyll a week on Monday; expects the air there will do the children good. It is a 'foul disease'; 'maddening' that there is nothing to be done to help the children while they have a coughing fit, but at least they do not 'dread the next fit' as an adult would; she has a 'cressoline lamp [sic: cresolene]' which seems to be the one thing the doctors believe helps. Sorry Bessie is worried about Paul; thinks she remembers Mary losing weight in her first six months 'trotting around'; not surprising that with teething and hot weather Paul has too. Bessie's three weeks alone with him must be tiring; hopes she is 'managing not to lift him' [due to her pregnancy?] but knows that must be hard.
She and George are going to have a third child; has only been sure for about ten days; has not even told her parents or Caroline yet, but could not write to Bessie without mentioning it; at present it is 'called Janetina'. They are in the train going to see the Chelsea Pageant and dine with Sir Edward Grey; expects he is being 'extra nice to George because he doesn't want any more inconvenient letters in the "Times" about Russian Exiles!' [cf. perhaps George's letter "Personal Liberty In Russia", "Times" (London, England), Jun 23, 1908; pg. 13; Issue 38680]. Janet can 'still be quite dissipated', and has not yet had to have her evening dresses let out'.
2, Cheyne Gardens. - Glad their letters have not crossed again; very good to think that 'two such dear people' [as Bessie and Bob] are thinking about her, so far away; promises Bessie will have her 'letter and telegram' [when the baby is born], and she will write herself as soon as she can. The nurse has 'left her box here', and Janet's mother has given her an 'adorable' bassinette, and 'a basket on legs to match'; hasn't dared to unwrap it and 'put up its little curtains yet, for fear of the wandering smut', but goes to look at it every so often. It is the back room that has been turned into the nursery; thinks it looks rather sweet, 'especially its frieze of the Noah's Ark procession running all round the top'. Believes the family will not return to Grosvenor Crescent until the middle of February, but thinks Caroline and Booa [Mary Prestwich] will come to town before that to see her 'if necessary'. Hopes Booa will not be very unhappy that they are not planning to christen their child; as Bessie says she 'has become reconciled to many things of late years'. Has not talked to her about it yet, and thinks George probably would do it better. Her own family 'see the force of the pro-Christening arguments' more than she and George do, mainly 'from the point of view of the child in later years;' in case it becomes a Christian, but they will not mind very much; thinks herself that she and George will share their mind so much with their children that it seems unlikely they will want to become Anglicans; even if they do, it is not 'so very awful' to be baptised. Asks in a postscript whether the 'linoleum man' in Bessie's 'very amusing' story was from Catesby's Cork Tiles.
Pen Rose, Berkhamsted. - George gave Bob's [translation of] Theocritus to his father in law for his eightieth birthday, who has been reading it alongside the Greek and is 'full of admiration'. Having a 'great business here saving some of the wonderful Ashridge wilderness for the National Trust'; they have bought 'at least £40 000 worth' of land.