| Description | Mary has received John's letter of 1 April and they are in agreement. Mrs Mesham has promised her good offices in helping Mary, in being met and fed, and Esther is ready to go back. Mary proposes to sleep at Coonoor on 16 April and get to Coimbatore for the afternoon train. She would have paused a few years ago at the prospect of being alone with an English maid, relying on hired messengers and an interpreter, but it does not disturb her now. She laments Captain Lindsay's 'enforced defection' as she only has Esther for company, which can be irksome. John's picture of Hingaloo society 'would stand for any number of Indian stations', but she believes that drinking and swearing are vices. If John plays games for money, he should not be above taking winnings. She considers that articles in th Fortnightly [Review] by H G Lewes [George Henry Lewes] on Dickens and Arthur Arnold on female voting are 'good and well said'. She notes [Walter] Bagehot on politcs and physics, and 'the American case', saying that Gladstone's words are 'careless and rash'. [from 10 April] She received John's letters of 2 and 4 April and is glad of the lower temperatures. She intends to return today. |