1 De Aar 30th 1911
2
3 It’s your birthday today, dear old man, I wonder where you are
4spending it. I hope happily.
5
6 Our girl left me on Monday night. She bore our rough & simple menage
7wonderfully well; & looked much better when she went than when she
8came. I am sending you a cutting with a letter by dear old Albert
9Cartwright.
10
11 I cannot get over the fact that you did not speak at the Congress
12
13Wednesday evening.
14
15 I have just got my England mail with a long letter from Adela about
16our boy & girl. She was much attracted to both, has a page about boy
17Oliver & his charm. She wants to get to know Ursula really, & get her
18to come & see her often if she will. I do hope if Mrs Earl asks Ursula
19to come & visit her she will not fail to go. She will meet all the
20most interesting people there; & if Mrs Earl really gets to love her &
21mother her, in a way, I shall be so glad. I want to write you a long
22letter about Dot, but can’t today.
23
24 I wonder if any man can understand just the restless bursting stage in
25which she is! If She must find an out let. She asked me whether I
26thought it her duty to teach perhaps start a school somewhere & earn
27her own living. I said, certainly not. You & the dear little mother
28have made her such a beautiful home, her place as far as I can see is
29there till Ursula comes back. But I think the idea of her taking up
30law is splendid. She’ll explode if she tries to hang about doing
31mothering. Marriage with a fine man whom she could really love & look
32up would be ?ideal – but where in the narrow little suburban life of
33Cape Town is she likely to find such a man? I know you will say I am
34the scheming Aunt trying to marry her off to a good husband. But I do
35think it would be good – though a mistake with a nature like hers
36would be fatal.
37
38You may say whe "Well why can’t she marry – say a young Sutton or
39a young Stanford?" But she won’t, & with a nature like hers it would
40be most unhappy if she did! We must talk more fully about this if I
41come to Cape Town in the summer. To I think think I told you Ettie
42thinks Blauwberg might suit me & I have taken a little room in a house
43there from Jan where I can do my own cooking on a paraffin stove &
44sort of camp out. If I am able to stay there I shall sometimes be able
45to come in for a few days when its not too hot.
46
47 Don’t think I am giving away my darling girls confidence in writing
48about her. I said I would write to you about her, & she said I might
49say what I liked she felt sure it would be all right. But what I say
50about her is for you & you alone.
51
52 Good bye dear old man
53 Your little sister
54 Olive
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