Seward House
Badsey
20th June 1881
My dearest Julius,
I was very glad to receive your letter this morning & hope by this time you have got rid of your cold & are able to go about & enjoy yourself. Florence Pollard cannot come till tomorrow & is so mysterious about the reason that I shall certainly ask “Who is he” when I see her.
Mrs Savory had some tea with me yesterday & I walked part of the way home with her, she asked me to come & dine with them today, if by any chance Florence did not come, so I am going down presently.
The children are all right, Jack was rather inclined to be naughty today, but when I asked him if I was to tell Papa he was going to be a good boy, he said yes, so I suppose he means to improve. May is very good, she delights in walking about with her hands in the pockets of her pinafore. We had an alarm with Cody last night, he began to bark furiously before I had got to bed, I heard Fanny open her door, so I called out to her & we perambulated the house together, but found no one. I expect there was some one outside, perhaps making a noise on purpose to tease the dog. One of your lilies is out, but not one of the best, I cut Devoniensis this morning & put it in the drawing-room. I don’t hear any news of Mrs Haynes, Mrs Warner has another girl, I begin to be of Mrs Byrd’s opinion that they are all girls at Badsey.
I wrote to your Mother yesterday & also a few lines to Mrs Burrows asking if she had forgotten my existence.
My love to George, Lizzie & Charlotte, I hope Lizzie is treating you to some pasties in her best style. Are they equal to the Ash ones? I will enclose the sock for Charlotte. Now, my darling, with fondest love & many kisses
I am
Your loving wife
Eugénie N Sladden
P.S. Mr Ridgeway is most attentive & sends down Ernest on his bicycle to see if I require anything. Be sure & keep your eyes open, as I shall expect a full & particular account of everything when you come home.
