The Grove School
Highgate
London N
Sunday February 28th 1915
My dear Father
Thank you for your letter and the parcel of hankies which arrived last night. I was glad to have satisfactory news of Mother and I hope she is rapidly getting better now. My cold is much better, thank you. I have been out for an hour’s walk in the sun this morning.
No, nothing more was ever found out about that fire. I am sure someone did it out of spite, and I have my private opinion as to who it was too.
Miss Lacey talked to me yesterday about my teaching; I believe she thinks I can be trained; she gave me one or two little criticisms and said she would come again soon to see me take it; she thinks that the work I have to do with them in that class is not a particularly good test or practice for me to start upon, so she is considering giving me some other bit of teaching as well next term. And as of course only an hour or two’s teaching a week would not make any appreciable difference in the fees, she will make use of me in some other way as well; housework or helping Miss Fletcher with the little ones or something of the sort. She has offered to give over the poultry to my charge if I like, and told me to think it over. She knows I take an interest in them and have had a little experience with them. I think I shall very likely accept the job, it would be quite nice to do.
It will be very jolly if George has time to see me, I hope he will be able to.
Miss Lacey is very pleased with herself; she has got some new kind of coal – seldonized coal I believe they call it. It is treated in a certain way which costs 2/6 a ton to be done but being done the coal burns very brightly and well and the quantity required is almost halved, at least that is what Mrs Lacey finds and she has been using it this winter. Miss Lacey says she doesn’t know whether she will ever be able to get any more coal now after this lot has gone, she had the greatest difficult in getting this, so we have got to be very sparing with it and use as much wood and slack as we can.
Yes, thank you, the McCarthy’s History of Our Own Times came the other day, and I read some of it when I was ill.
I am going to knit George a pair of socks when I have finished the pair I am doing now. I believe a pair lasts about three days or so at the front so he will be glad of some I daresay. I don’t suppose they will be done before he goes but I shall send them.
Two of the Danish viginties went back to Denmark the other day: we had a telegram from them to say they had reached Norway safely. They crossed in a Norwegian vessel and the boat behind them was torpedoes and a few people killed.
I am glad George thought Ypers had grown; I expect I shall see a good difference in him next holidays.
Dilys Richards’ brother came home on four days’ leave from the trenches the other day; there was great excitement, he came to fetch her and took her home with him.
We had quite a lot of snow the early part of the week; the children made a snowman in the garden and he is still half left though melted out of all shape now.
With love your affectionate daughter
Juliet E Sladden
