Item 322 - Letter from R. C. Trevelyan to Caroline Trevelyan

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The Shiffolds. - Thanks his mother for writing to let him know about Booa [Mary Prestwich]; he and Bessie felt when they 'said goodbye to her last summer that it would probably would be for the last time'. But it had been a 'great pleasure to have found her relatively in good health and spirits', and they had 'several good talks with her', which Robert thought she enjoyed. Thinks that 'on the whole she must have had a happy life'; her 'last years, after she had to retire' certainly turned out 'far happier for her' than the Trevelyans had once feared they might be.

Feels he owes her 'a great deal in all sorts of ways' she 'had her faults' as everyone does, but was 'one of the best and most affectionate characters' he has 'ever known'. Bessie has just read out the notice his parents sent of her death to the Times, which 'could not have been more beautifully put'. Is sorry that he has been unable to go to the funeral, but has written to her brother.

Bessie's sister is here, which is a 'great pleasure' to her; Mrs Röntgen asks him to be remembered to his parents 'very kindly'.