[35A School St., Andover, MA]

I hope you got my Christmas cable before you left Andover. But that I thought I might have heard from you meanwhile, in reply to my letter of the 11th. I gather from the tone of your last letter that you were hurt, & I am afraid that I had been scandalised! But I merely think that you were misled by the importunity of over-zealous literary historians, & I should not like to think that there should be any grievance between us at this time of the year above all others. Let us think of other things.

I have been at home with a cold for the last four days, & with fog and cold weather, my doctor won’t let me out till after Christmas. AndSuez Crisis;a3 what with the depression, anxiety & humiliation of public events, this will be a sad Christmas, for the affairs of this world, for all of us. May you have a restful happy visit to friends after your Christmas obligation is fulfilled.

I shall be writing soon, about other matters; but I hope you read this letter first.