Scope and Content
"I must confess I did not even spot you in the street when I drove through last Wednesday, or I would certainly have tried to stop (though that frightful bottleneck in Dunstable St. is a nightmare anyway!). On my return journey about 6 I saw Aunt Eva talking to the Rayment ladies outside Barclays Bank, but I did not stop, as I had to get back to London by 8. Sure enough, there was a letter from Aunt Eva the following day ... I noticed that one or two people recognised me: but I called on no one except Mrs.Perton after I had been in the church. Andrew ran into me outside Miss Wingfield's house as I was returning to the car, which I had parked on the slope leading down to the church. I thought he had grown up a lot. He was quite a little chap when I saw him nearly five years ago. I was astonished at the change in Mrs.Perton. I surprised her having her afternoon nap. I thought she looked shrivelled up and very old and ill. The church certainly looked better than it did two years ago when I last saw it. I thought the gallery leading up to the porch room over the south door very much improved by being painted white. But I could not bear the stained wood at the back of the Lady altar! I was very surprised to hear the Waddys are going, but I think his main interests lie in SPG (I am told that the churchpeople in Ampthill are sick of hearing about it!), and, as you say, the RECTORY! I expect you will find now that the question of selling it will come up again. It is not only the Rectory, but that long steep drive leading up to it, and that path from the church which I noticed the other day was as thick with sand as ever. The Ampthill UDC will never do anything about it, as the only cars using the road are Rectory ones. As for the house and garden, well I fought them for nearly ten years, but I had to admit myself beaten in the end! A nightmare in winter, and a slave camp in summer, was my verdict. I do hope the next man will be more friendly towards me than Waddy has been. The least he could have done was to invite me back sometime to preach a sermon. Sir A. said very little about him, but I gathered he would shed no tears on his departure!
I found a letter from Sir A. asking me to go and see him as soon as I could, on my return here from France on May 30th. I was in Paris in January and February, and got to Mentone in time to experience the terrible storms which brought down half the mountainsides into the town, and caused a great deal of damage, and the loss of several lives. Perhaps you read about it in the papers. Fortunately our end of Mentone was well away from it all. But it was really appalling. It was caused by the extremely dry weather of the past few summers loosening the top-soil on the mountain slopes. When the torrential rain came, it just brought everything down with it. No one can say I don't arrive in time for catastrophes: what with avalanches in Switzerland last year, and floods in France this!
I had a very busy time, as my cousin and I at last have been able to sell the villa at Mentone. I have bought another, much smaller, but much more suitable one overlooking the harbour at Villefranche where I hope to end my days eventually, and where I shall be able to look down on the British fleet at anchor in the bay when it visits the Riviera. Villefranche is the only really large harbour after Marseilles, and has a jolly atmosphere, as there are lots of French matelots about. The town itself is smaller than Mentone, but quite as beautiful. It was a fearful business moving in, as there was an accumulation of stuff in the villa at Mentone going back nearly 100 years, and most of it was sold. I too the grand piano along to Villefranche, as you may imagine!
And now what? Miss Eagles is now really the only person who keeps me in England, now that my father is dead. She does not mind me going away at all so long as she knows I am coming back eventually. But she if far too senile to transport over there, and I think she would never stand another move. I notice the change in her more when I have been away for a time. Her poor old mind is full of nonsense, and it is impossible to hold an intelligent conversation with her. But she is not an idiot. Senility is quite a different thing from lunacy. She is fully aware of her surroundings, and her life mainly centres in her Siamese cat (an adorable animal). She does not get to church now, as she says she feels giddy in the mornings. But apart from that, and her mental condition, she seems in wonderful health, and potters about the house and garden all day.
I was glad to hear Clifford Thomson had married. If anyone ever needed someone to look after him, he does! It may prove to be the making of him, as he was certainly a nervous wreck when I visited him in hospital here in London two or three years ago. What wonders your are doing with the S.John's cadets!
We are now expecting a succession of visitors, beginning next Saturday. Sir A. said he hoped I should go and see him again soon, but I think I shall wait now till the Waddys have gone. I do hope the next appointment will be a good one.
Yours sincerely,"