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Letter ReferenceOlive Schreiner BC16/Box5/Fold3/1914/87
ArchiveUniversity of Cape Town, Manuscripts & Archives, Cape Town
Epistolary TypeLetter
Letter Date18 December 1914
Address Fromc/o Standard Bank, 10 Clements Lane, Lombard Street, London
Address To
Who ToBetty Molteno
Other Versions
PermissionsPlease read before using or citing this transcription
Legend
The Project is grateful to Manuscripts and Archives, University of Cape Town, for kindly allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of its Manuscripts and Archives Collections. The name of the addressee of this letter is indicated by salutation and content. Schreiner was resident at Kensington Palace Mansions from late October 1914 to late July 1915.
1 Address c/o Standard Bank
2Dec 18th 1914
3
4Dear dear Friend
5
6How much I wish you & Alice were here now. I hope you are feeling
7quite better again Oh if you & Alice were here, I wouldn’t feel so
8?outside far from all the world.
9
10My darling friend Adela Smith has consumption, it has attacked the lu
11right lung. She is not to see any one for two months & lie still & be
12fed. I went down to say good bye to the Ghandis this afternoon they
13are leaving for India on Saturday. It is doubtful if the Government
14will allow Kallenbach to go with them as he is a German. He has to
15report himself to the government here, & is not allowed to go mor five
16miles from his place of residence. The Ghandi’s have been very ill,
17both of them but are better. I have seen no one else in the last
18couple of weeks but a woman I used to know 25 years ago who came to
19see me. My darling Adela used to come once, & if she could twice every
20week to see me. And now she is so bad I can do nothing for her.
21
22 I hear see in the papers my brother Will had a big dinner given him at
23the Hotel Cecil two days ago to which a great many men & women wel
24went. I’ve not seen him for a long time. I hear Lyndall is perhap
25coming to Europe I used but I don’t suppose I shall see much
26of her. Alice wrote me two of her letters to me & a post card were
27returned to her from the dead letter office. Didn’t I ask you both
28to address to the Standard Bank? The Standard Bank always knows where
29I am. Or were they ^the letters^ returned from the South African post
30office? It is strange to think you are having hot sun at the Cape.
31Here we have nothing but ^fog,^ dark mist & rain. The rain fall they say
32is heavier than it has been for some years in December. This is a poor
33letter to write but what shall I say? It is difficult to me to realize
34this is the London I used to love so. All the lights are put out at
35night & one creeps about in the ^dark^ dangerous streets if one dares to
36go out after 4 (when it is quite dark now): the whole thing is like
37hell one can’t believe it is London; but some horrid nightmare.
38
39 I haven’t any more news to give you. Give my love to dear Lucy & to
40Ruth Alexander.
41
42 Good bye
43 Olive
44
45
46