Seward House
Badsey
23rd Aug 1905
My dear Ethel,
We were pleased to get your nice long letters this morning & I must answer it tonight.
I think you will find the boarding house best to stop at, if Mrs Idiens does not mind Daisy going there, I think you would be all right there as the visitors are mostly of the “fogey” description. If you arrange to have bed & breakfast, you might probably have other meals there is you wanted to, by saying so a little while beforehand.
I suppose the Miss Cases will go about Paris with you even if they go to the G.F.S. Lodge? The Avenue d’ Léna is not very far from the Av. de la Gde Armée. I think on Saturday you should try & see Notre Dame & the St. Chapelle which are pretty close together, & then you might have an hour at the Louvre, but you must not expect to see much of that as it would take days to do much of it. On Sunday you will be about ten minutes walk from the English Church, St George’s, I should suggest your going there for service which I think is ½ past ten, leaving before the sermon & going on to the Madeleine for high mass at 12 o’clock, the music there would please you & Daisy. In the afternoon, if fine, I think you would like a drive in the Bois de Boulogne, the cabs charge rather more outside the fortifications, still an hour’s drive would not be ruinous. Of course you & Daisy must not go about by yourselves after dark, but I daresay the Miss Cases will be with you. If not you must try & make friends with some elderly lady at the pension & get her to chaperone you if you want to go out in the evening.
On Monday you might go & see the Invalides, I think it is open that day, but make enquiries beforehand, as Monday is a day when a good many places are closed in Paris. If you do go there you would not be very far from my favourite shop the Bon Marché, & might like to have a look at that. St Clottilde too is on that side of the river & from any of the bridges you will be sure to see the Eiffel Tower.
I think you can quite well travel by the night train on Monday & as you get to Dieppe about 12 o’clock, you ought to get a good sleep on board the boat if it is not too crowded. Certainly you must not attempt a matinée in London, I should not like you to go to a London theatre alone & it would be much better to take the first possible train; tell Daisy from me she must look forward to seeing more of London some other time.
As you do not get home till Tuesday, you will not all be at home together this time, for George has to go up to Richmond on Sept. 2nd as there will be a 2nd Dio exam on Oct/2nd & he is to have a try for that.
Uncle & Auntie will be here till the 6th or 7th so you will see them.
May arrived on Friday, she is looking very well & is most cheerful; we get along fairly comfortably with the small Perkins, she is a bright child & most anxious to do everything one tells her, but of course has no manners & requires squashing severely at times; she is rather untidy in the morning but tolerable in the afternoon; I am about one or two servants but have no one decided yet.
I have given Mary Baxter two characters already but as both ladies asked particularly about honesty, I could not satisfy them. She is still at the Culls, I have seen her drive by in the cart with Walter several times.
When I got your letter this morning I began to be afraid I had muddled the rent money with my housekeeping money, however to my relief, Father went through the Church accounts tonight & found that he could not have given you the £1 as there was £1 too much in the bag, so I must go & take it to Mrs Wilson tomorrow.
Auntie Polly writes that Ethelwyn’s fiancé is a Mr Emile de Laveleye, a naturalised Englishman with an English mother & Belgian Father. He does not appear to be well off & they will not be able to be married at present.
Judy has not quite lost her cold, she had Betty to tea on Saturday. We enquired the price of lodgings at the Butlers, they would charge 30/- a week each for two ladies sharing a bed sitting room, & Miss Horsman also charges 30/- a week, there of course they would be paying guests living with the family.
Auntie Lottie was in rooms at Folkestone for a week & goes tomorrow to Eastbourne for a week, then back to Folkestone & finally back to Rosway to do her packing.
Father is sending you a paper giving an account of the eclipse of the sun next week.
I left May to tell you about Jack & Kathleen, I do hope they will have it fine for their trip; they seem to be enjoying it.
Arthur comes home on Saturday, he has had a good time.
Cyril has hired a bicycle for a month at 20/-. I have promised to pay half, he & George are going to ride to Worcester tomorrow for a cricket match; they went 27 miles this afternoon.
I am sure Juliet would send a love & kiss if she were awake.
Goodnight dear, with love to Daisy & yourself.
I am
your loving mother
Eugénie N Sladden
