Item 75 - Letter from R. C. Trevelyan to Sir George Trevelyan

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10 Prinsegracht, The Hague. - Accepts that the blame 'implied' in his father's letter [46/74] was 'well-deserved': since he was 'dependent' on his parents he should have consulted them before asking anyone to marry him; it was no excuse that he was unsure of how Miss van der Hoeven would respond to his proposal, as the 'paramount necessity' was to discover his parents' view of him marrying, and their 'intentions' if he did so. Did not 'quite realize how wrong' he had been until he read his father's letter.

Thinks the proposed allowance is generous, also that Mr Hubrecht [his fiancée's uncle] agrees, but he is writing to Sir George himself to 'make the situation simpler and clearer'; he said much the same about Robert's not speaking to his parents first as Sir George had. As her guardian, he is 'anxious to be quite certain she will be provided for', but Robert knows that otherwise he thinks 'the marriage would be a good one'. Thinks his father will find Hubrecht 'reasonable and just' in correspondence; it was his idea that Miss van der Hoeven should write to Robert's mother. Will wait at the Hague until he hears from his father. One point Hubrecht will raise with Sir George is how Robert will be provided for after his father's death, when his allowance will cease; he 'would like to be assured' that Robert will still be able to provide for his niece, though 'not necessarily exactly how this would be done'. Robert does not ask to be informed of this himself: he knows his parents 'will not leave [him] poor if [they] can help it', while they know his 'desire for wealth is not extravagant, indeed quite the opposite'. Thinks Hubrecht was satisfied with what Robert, from his own understanding of the case, told him, but he 'feels it necessary' to be answered by Sir George; Robert thinks his father will see why Hubrecht preferred him to ask about this rather than doing so himself.

Asks his father to thank his mother for her letter, which 'under the circumstances' he thinks 'very kind, as indeed was yours', as his father 'had a right to blame [him]' more than he did.

TRER/12/32: draft version of this letter