Dear Cousin Edith
I'm so excited to have received an invitation from Rosamund and Alfred to stay for Christmas this year. It seems an age since I was last there and now that I am on my own again it will be lovely to be immersed in a big family for a while. You may recall that Rosamund was a friend of my mother's, although some years younger and has lived with her husband at The Old Rectory since the year dot so I remember going there when I was little as well as in my younger adult years. Frederick and I never went there together, which in a way is a good thing. Now that the house I lived in as a child has been sold it will be the next best thing to going home.
Rosamund is so organised, she has given me a schedule of her plans for the fortnight so that I know what to take with me. I shall go up to town next week to get a new pair of walking shoes and a couple of warm day dresses and I might just decide to get a good tweed costume as well if I can find something that doesn't age me too much. Since Frederick died I haven’t been out much in the evenings so I have things that will do very well for those. Well, probably.
We shall be quite a large party and Rosamund said that she was very glad that her cook, Mrs Davey, has a sister who is going to be helping out in the kitchen. \It will be wonderful to be cooked for and not have to worry about that sort of thing for a couple of weeks. My little flat doesn’t take much looking after and moving there has meant that I have been able to support myself comfortably. Maybe in a year or two I will start looking for something to do but I don’t feel ready yet to cope with all the questions that people ask, albeit with good intention. And, of course, friends say I am plenty young enough to marry again
So, who will be there? Well, Rosamund’s sister Elouise and her husband Henry, who is Alfred’s cousin, and their son John. Alfred’s sister Elizabeth and her husband, whose name escapes me for the moment, Alfred’s brother Paul, another couple who I don’t know but are close friends of the family and Rosamund’s cousin Harriet. There will be some younger children too but Rosamund assures me they will be well looked after by the friends’ nanny.
The Old Rectory is a huge rambling house with plenty of room for all of us and the grounds are superb. I hope it snows, but not until I am there!
I am to arrive on the 22nd and Rosamund has promised a shopping trip the next day to buy some small presents for her guests. I am looking forward to that as there are some lovely shops in the nearby town and I may give in to temptation and buy a present or two for myself as well.
I’ll keep you posted about the shopping next week and hope to find something to send you too. We must try and find time to meet up next year when I come to the Lake District for my walking holiday.
With very best wishes
Freda
