Pièce 250 - Letter from R. C. Trevelyan to Sir George Trevelyan

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Apartado 847, Madrid, Spain. - Hopes that his father has by now 'quite recovered' from his fall, and that Hearn [the butler] is well again; supposes they are at Welcombe by now, so will send this letter there. Will stay at Madrid while he is in Spain, which may be for two or three weeks longer; it is a 'pleasant enough city', and not too cold at present. Usually goes out into the countryside by tram to work, and comes back when it gets dark. Has made some 'interesting friends here through [Oswald] Sickert' with whom he has been staying: 'young journalists and literary men', of whom two or three have 'a great deal of talent'. Can now read a Spanish newspaper 'fairly well', and don Quijote [sic] 'with the help of a translation'; however, he has not yet got used to the pronunciation, which is 'very guttural, and much more difficult than Italian'. The acting he has seen at the theatres 'seems very good, if only I could understand what they say'.

Bessie 'writes cheerfully', and Julian 'seems to be quite happy and in good spirits'. Robert hopes to go for a day to visit Toledo, and perhaps Segovia, before he leaves, but will not try to go south to Malaga or Granada, as 'there seem to be strikes everywhere'. The Spanish are 'going through a major industrial crisis', but Madrid is unlikely to be affected, since it is 'not an industrial city'. Luckily, they have 'a very good and liberal minded premier, Sanchez [de] Toca, who is nominally a conservative, and 'will probably steer them through their difficulties, if he is allowed to remain in power'. This is however 'doubtful, since the military juntas and the reactionaries hate him, and are trying to turn him out'.