Ecole Normale d’Institutrices
Orléans
Nov 3rd 1900
My dear Ethel
Many thanks for your letter which interested me very much. I can quite imagine you have tons of needlework to do, I used to have the same, I like to hear about the different things you are making & altering. I am sending this letter to you this (Saturday) evening so as to post it early tomorrow, last Sunday I posted it before ten o’clock a.m. at the post office & I will try & do the same tomorrow. Service begins at 10 o’clock at the Cathedral & at 10.30 at the “temple” (French Protestant Church) so I have to make haste to get my letters written beforehand. However we get up at the same time on Sundays as on other days, though we mistresses need not appear until the mid-day dejeuner unless we like! Café au lait is ready for us in the refectory from 7.45 to about 8.15, I generally go down about 8 & have mine by myself, as the others more often come down in their dressing-gowns & take it up to their own rooms. They go about fearful sights some times in the morning before they are dressed & they don’t mind who sees them. French people are not [?] in general, most of them lack that air of freshness which is I am glad to think, common among the English. Most of the children, & not only the poor people’s children either, are the dirtiest little ragamuffins you ever saw, their faces & hands are almost always dirty & their pinafores, if not made of black stuff, are never far off that colour (Do you notice that I often get into a muddle over the spelling of words which are nearly the same in French as in English?).
The other day I went to call on Madame Cochet who has two little boys the youngest of whom is almost exactly Juliet’s age, he was a jolly little fellow though plain & with carroty hair & he was very friendly with me, but the poor little fellow had a cold & sorely needed a “anky” as Baby says, but his mother didn’t seem to mind at all, & they are mostly like that. Another thing which seemed strange to me is that the baths in the school are only heated once a month & I don’t think anyone except myself has a cold bath. Luckily I have not yet had to leave them off but I expect I shall have to soon. The baths are right away in the other corner of the school, downstairs near the kitchen, & I have quite a long walk in the mornings.
Sunday 4th. I hope you will feel duly honoured when I tell you that I bought a photo frame specially for your portrait yesterday, now my mantel piece looks quite nice with all my photos, especially since All Saint’s day when some of the girls brought me a large bunch of chrysanthemums & some pretty foliage, I have arranged the flowers in two little brown cream jars that I have & the foliage I put in a jug & stand it in the fireplace when there is no fire. Altogether I am quite pleased with my room.
I am thinking of making Juliet one or two pinafores, I want some sort of work that I can take with me when I go to see some people, some of them have asked me to go in the afternoons & take my work. I know Juliet can always do with an extra pinny or two & I thought of making them like the one Auntie Lottie gave her, I think I remember how it went, only will you please send me her length & also the width, I must make them a good size as I don’t suppose she will have them until I come home, it would not be worth while to send them. I shall trim them with tucks & feather-stitching & insertion lace.
Dear little Baba I expect she is looking forward to her birthday give her a big love & a kiss from May-may. I am glad the Oxford certifs have come, you did very well to pass in everything. I knew Maggie had failed in French, Miss Smith told me when I was at Windsor, but I was not surprised. I did not know that Rose Marshall was engaged, what is the name of the eldest Sparrow whom she has married? I am glad you are collecting vegetables for Kilburn I hope you will get a good lot. When is the C.E.A. week?
Please thank Father for the Standard with the long account about the Volunteers, I read it right through from beginning to end. Give Boo my love & tell him France is very nice, but not so nice as England. I expect he will be busy tomorrow with his bonfire. I suppose he will have one as usual.
With much love from
Your very affect. sister
May E Sladden
I suppose you will decide what we shall give Jack & Baby for their birthdays. I think you have a little money of mine that I [?], have you paid for my blouse at Lowe’s, if so how much was it? The money over you can use for my share in presents.
