[No surviving envelope]
I must just write a brief note of explanation this morning to catch the Duchess of Bedford, and will write in reply to your letter tonight or Saturday. While I was out posting my last letter to you, last night, your long letter of the 28th (pencil, but legible) arrived. I am sorry to have been so fussy – but it does seem almost justified, doesn’t it? as you have been ill after all. IHale, Emilyhealth, physical and mental;w6suffers with sinuses;a8 am distressed about the sinus, but glad that you seem to be taking the trouble in hand properly, andHale, Emilyappearance and characteristics;v7EH encouraged to gain weight;a8 I hope that you will not lose all the POUNDS that you have gained during the winter. ForNoyes, Penelope BarkerEH's Cataumet summer holiday with;d3 the rest, the problem of the summer needs thinking about carefully, but you have been prudent in taking counsel and opinion and not accepting Penelope’s proposal rashly. It seems that she ought to be told frankly that professional assistance is what is needed, from her point of view; but that doesn’t get us any further with your problem. I wish that I might be nursing you, in a sunny climate.
12.PenelopeNoyes, Penelope Barker Barker Noyes (1891–1977), who was descended from settlers of the Plymouth Colony, lived in a historic colonial house (built in 1894 for her father James Atkins Noyes) at 1 Highland Street, Cambridge, MA. Unitarian. She was a close friend of EH.