Item 135 - Letter from Caroline Trevelyan to Elizabeth Trevelyan

Palace Hotel, Rome. - Sir George is much better; at first his leg seemed to have 'lost all power' and they were very uneasy, though the doctor said there was no injury to bone or muscle; it turned out to be largely rheumatism and the 'vigorous measures' they took against this have succeeded. Expect now to be able to start for home on 28 Deccember as planned; they will stop at Bologna, Lugano, Bale [Basel], Paris, and hope to be home on 4 January. Glad to hear what a good time Elizabeth and Robert are having; Aulla [home of the Waterfields] must be 'delightful', especially in 'this glorious weather'. Thinks the Tuscan people 'attractive... & very superior to the South Italians'. Hopes the 'Xmas festivity' will be successful. She and Sir George thought Robert's observation about Charles very good. Envies Elizabeth reading Hogg [Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley, see 46/113] for the first time; thinks it 'one of the most amusing of books'. Suppose she knows [Edward?] Trelawny. She and Sir George have finished Pepys, and are beginning Keats's letters again. The Com[mitt]ee do not seem to have collected enough to buy the house in Rome Keats died in yet, but she thinks they hope to do so. Asks to be remembered to Elizabeth's hostess [Lina Waterfield], whom she remembers meeting at the Mill House.