Highfield
Budleigh Salterton
Devon
20th July 1914
My dear Eugénie
Thank you for your interesting letter telling me of your visits to Eastbourne and Arthur and Mary, please forgive my not having answered sooner. My neck would not heal so I let Mr Chapman see it and until I came here he dressed it frequently for me and said I was not to give up coming here and also later my visit to Anna at Malvern, so I have Dr Semple here every 2 days and he attends to it for me and when I go to Malvern I must have another Doctor there if it has not by that time been allowed to close, it makes me longer than ever getting up in the morning and going to bed at night, but I must be patient and very thankful that it does not give me pain. Until yesterday the weather here has been lovely but yesterday was very wet and it blew also. This morning it is again sunny, but the wind has not gone down. I came here today week and should be going home next Monday. I hope to be in time to see Harry again before he leaves for “GLB” Camp at Shorncliff, after that he goes to Sandwich Bay to meet his Church Scouts there. Henriette Bergeon comes back to me on the 1st August and on the 6th we are to join Anna and Dalgarno at Malvern, Anna has invited Henriette to be her guest as well as me, it will be nice for her to see another part of England. Anna will not after all go to the Lakes for she could not get rooms. I shall be quite pleased to stay all the time at Malvern especially as I hear the Lakes are not bracing. I shall be glad to see our old friends the Ellis’ again and also the Strattens, very nice women who are friends of Anna’s. Mr Simpson has asked me to call him Ted so I do – calls me Grannie, he and Mary are very kind to me and I enjoy the peaceful visit here very much, the garden is looking beautiful. Mary is going to the village presently, I should like to go too but I must wait in for the Doctor and probably go out this afternoon. On Friday Mary and I went to Exeter by train and lunched with Mrs Roberts who so lately lost her son who was in the Army in such a sad way, in the afternoon we went to Exmouth and had tea with the Tanners, she was glad to have news of the Baby who with his parents was with us lately for a fortnight, it was very nice having them. Jack came the Sunday before they left. Our “GLB” Garden party was a great success, we must have had 15 guests all told of various sorts, Courtney took the Inspection of the Lads – Major Lawford “GLB” gave the prizes. After rain the early part of the day it was a fine evening and the garden was illuminated, Fanny, Charlie and Eleanor played a trio, the latter played her cello so well and was not at all nervous, others sang and Mary Jardine played the piano very well. Mary looks very well, she does a great deal of gardening, and takes every care of her and husband, one afternoon she had a meeting to go to, then to a friend’s to tea so Ted and I had tea together and then went for a walk on the golf links. I am sorry you and Mrs Lambert missed, she came and helped in the afternoon for our party and came again in the evening, they are settled in their house on Kingston Hill. I suppose May and Kathleen will soon have their holiday.
Mary sends love. My love to you all.
Your loving sister
Mary Anna Robinson
