Item 175 - Letter from R. C. Trevelyan to Sir George Trevelyan

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The Shiffolds, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking. - Expects this will find his father in town. Hopes that his mother will 'find Aunt Meg better, and not be tired by the journey'. He and Bessie were in town last week; Bessie saw Janet and 'gave a very good account of her', as she seems to be recovering well. Charles and Molly came here last weekend; Charles seemed 'quite cheerful, though perhaps a little tired. He slept part of Sunday' and appeared 'quite fresh' when he returned on Wednesday.

Julian is well, and 'gets about over the floor now, not by crawling, but jerking himself forward in a sitting position'; generally he 'gives little trouble', and is 'learning to play by himself more than he used to'. '[N]othing but wind and rain' today: Bessie is mending Julian's toys 'with cement', also 'several pieces of her china, which have been broken for years'. Has recently read some of Bernard Shaw's plays again, some of which he had never read but only sen acted. Thinks he likes them much more than he used to: 'Their merits seem greater, and their faults, though real, seem to matter less'. Even his prefaces 'annoy [Robert] less': he is 'often silly and exaggerated and egotistical', but Robert 'can't help feeling that all that is more bad manners and journalistic emphasis'; it used to 'disgust [him] beyond words', but now he 'can't help liking him in spite of it all'.

Asks if he should send back Verrall's Bacchae to London, or wait till his father returns to Wallington. Was 'unconvinced' by it, but found it 'more plausible than he often is'.