Badsey
Evesham
April 26th/11
My dearest little Betty,
You will have had the p.c. from Stratford & now I must write you a letter, I daresay you will be quite ready for another from home! Well the three old maids of Lee – I mean of Badsey – are getting on quite well all alone with Dada, in fact they are going out quite a lot & getting quite skittish.
Wasn’t it a shame that Kath & I couldn’t get in to see “Othello”, we couldn’t have got in if we had been there an hour earlier, Mr Rainbow told us there had been people waiting for the gallery since 8 a.m. We had taken some lunch with us & as it was a lovely day we sat on the bank of the river & ate it, then looked at Mr Benson & other members of his company standing talking outside the theatre, we went into the Church & as we came back past the theatre we wished very much we were inside & thought to relieve our feelings we would send p.c.’s to you & to Boo. We had some tea & wrote the p.c.’s in a funny little cottage nearly opposite the theatre. The woman there was very amusing, she told us she was no scholard & she didn’t understand Shakspeare, but one play she did like to see & that was Othello (she pronounced it Ortheller) & when Kath remarked that that was rather a terrible play to see, so many people were killed in it, she said that was just what she liked & an old woman sitting next her in the gallery, who had a bag of biscuits wanted to throw them at Othello when he was smothering Desdemona. On our way back we went to see Quinton & Mickleton churches & we reached home at 5 o’clock finding Father & Dot at tea & surprised to see us back so soon.
Ethel had had a day to herself just as I had on Saturday when the others cycled to see the Pipers.
Alice was busy on Monday & Tuesday white-washing & cleaning the pantry, it looks so nice & clean now. There are only the kitchen & back kitchen to be done now & I hope they will be finished this week. Annie went up to the G.F.S. entertainment at Evesham this afternoon & enjoyed it very much she said, Kath & Ethel went too while I cycled to Dumbleton with Father & paid our long deferred call at the Hall. Yesterday Ethel & I went up to the dancing display. I enclose the programme which I just saved from being torn up because I thought you would like to see it. As you see I didn’t save it quite soon enough. You would have liked Vera Beach in her crinoline & early Victorian bonnet, she looked sweet & danced very nicely. There was such a crowd of people there, more than ever before I think.
Ethel sends you a message that she has just put black Kitty to bed in his box, he had to go early to bed last night too because he had been to too many parties lately. He wonders some times where you are but is quite cheerful on the whole. Auntie Det is very good to him. Scot was bathed this morning by his Auntie Kathleen, he has had a walk every day since you left. Ethel saw Mrs Moss-Blundell today, she said she saw your box going up in the cart on Friday, & felt sure it must be yours by the J.E.S on the end. Roddy & Peggy enquired anxiously after you today & so did Enid when I saw her yesterday.
We shall be looking forward to your next letter, I hope you will be able to tell us that you have found some of the girls & mistresses very nice.
Very much love & lots of kisses from your loving
May-may
We haven’t heard again from Arthur yet. It is Mary William’s birthday tomorrow.
