Item 7 - Letter from Elizabeth des Amorie van der Hoeven to R. C. Trevelyan

1 item: letter with envelope.

Ede; addressed to Bob at 3 Hare Court, Inner Temple, London EC - Bob has still not given her his address in Dorking; supposes this letter will reach him in London; hopes he has a good time at Harrow, 'beat them all hollow' and not suffer any broken bones. Asks if he has given Bramine [Hubrecht]'s sketch to his mother and whether she likes it. A shame the Frys did not see the current glorious weather; she is going for long farewell walks to her favourite places in Ede; the Grandmonts are leaving on Friday, hates goodbyes. The Frys wrote a nice letter; he seems to have felt as Bob does that the Dutch 'ways of thinking & looking at things' are not so different from the British; she thought so too, and expects she could soon get to know them well; felt a little constraint when talking of Bob as she was unsure how much they knew. Asks Bob what new doctrine 'the philosopher [George] Moore' has been convincing him of; his account of 'the newly married philosopher' [J E M MacTaggart] made her laugh and would make a good subject for a story; she has often wished she could 'write a huge "life"-novel' but finds it impossible. Asked Grandmont about "[Till] Eulenspiegel", who also thought it was originally written in Flanders, but the Germans have very old manuscripts too, and it is rather like old works like "Reineke Fuchs [Reynard the Fox]" which also has an uncertain origin. Is very glad Bob is learning German. Reminds him that he said she could read some more of his "Mahabarata" [sic: "Mahabharata"] poem and some others. Bob's lost umbrella has been found and passed on to Paul [Hubrecht] as promised. They have given up the house at Doorn, "Citio", due to difficulties with the proprietor, so must search again; she, her uncle [Paul François Hubrecht], and Grandmont looked at an old country house near Haarlem on Monday, but it was too gloomy and damp.