| Description | She received John's much needed 'fat anna letter'. She had been trying to paint some mangosteens which she had promised to take up to Mrs Jackson at Coonoor Bridge. She relates a misunderstanding about meeting, and various house-calls, including to Mrs Richardson and Mrs Wigham. She describes a drive to the 'Old Forest', time with the Coodes, and reading John's letter under trees at 'Bleak House'. Had she known about the picnic and walking she would not have gone. She tells John more about the people she has been seeing: Mrs Hodgson, who seems 'chronically exasperated' and Captain Murray, whom Mary dislikes. She asks if John would like to grow coffee and live in the hills as Colonel Hodgson does, wishing that John had time for something like recreation, and asking if he could bring back trophy horns from his shooting. She thinks that the tone of his letters is not happy. She has tried to follow his progress on maps, but they are not sufficiently detailed. |