| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, 7 Via Venti Settembre, Rome, to her relatives, regarding blockage of mails into the country; Aunt Amy probably knows why better than they do; encouraging her to write frequently at least to her parents; Amelia will write as usual in the hope that some of it will get through; fair attendance at first Communion Sunday; departure of David Henderson and the Brown family some time ago; David Henderson had heard at Olevano that if he did not leave soon he would not be able to leave later; Mr. Brown was given a post in his business in Harrow; that means that two members of the Board of Management have left; Mr. Rideout is still here and Hale Benton has returned from Paris where he and his wife were trying to find out what camp her brother was stationed at; she can never leave her husband alone; Uncle has been busy trying to make arrangements for the 'imbecile child of Mr. Lamb, an employee at Old England'; cerebral development was arrested before birth, and the child is likely to be accepted at the asylum behind St. Peter's, though Uncle had been making lengthy enquiries about S. Giovanni in the Valleys, which was too expensive; Dr. Brock was in church, looking very worn; much of his work has been shattered by recent events; the unit has been disbanded and sent home; his section was able to save some valuables through hard work, but the rest is abandoned; Miss Nunn left at two hours' notice with what she could carry; the whereabouts of some are unknown, 'probably they are prisoners'; Gorizia, Udine and surroundings are taken and Dr. Brock does not know where to go now; Italy must stop being ambitious and just defend herself; there are substantial Allied reinforcements and there is no civilian travel over the border; visits of Mrs. Hodges, wife of the naval attaché at the American Embassy, Mrs. Rowat, Miss Jamieson, and others; Amelia is still busy with dental visits; she broke a tooth at Chambéry and the root is being cleaned to allow a porcelain insert to be grafted in; she will need a gold crown at the back; her dress allowance will go on that next year; fortunately she bought a blue costume at Lyon and a silk hat to match, so she is well provided for for spring and winter; Aunt's rain mantle is discoloured with age and Amelia would have liked to return the one Aunt gave her and buy a new blue one for herself, but 'circulars' do not exist here, and waterproof coats do not allow other things to be tucked into them for protection the way mantles do; parcels from home are also out of the question; Uncle is going to Leghorn this week to deal with Blake, who is refusing to go there because 'he is getting daily injections after "a scratch" from his dog'; the injections clash with the train times; Irving is coming up tomorrow but cannot go to Leghorn either as he has to oversee the work of Bosio and Luzzi, neither of whom is a Hebrew scholar; Crozier wants a recognition meeting 'which is absurd'; there are problems with the presbytery, which Blake dismisses; Irving calls him 'an egotistical ass'; rescheduling of Mr. Green's organ lessons because of his Red Cross work; he has had a little boy in August and says he has had a very hard summer (Amelia's view seems to be that Mrs. Green's summer was probably worse); Uncle's visit to three Canadians in hospital; one has typhoid, one quinsy and one bronchitis; the rest are to visit Florence before returning to France; they were in the attack at Vimy Ridge; frequent letters from Chambéry and from ex-patients there; Boursier is at home in Brittany and happy but lonely: 'most of [my friends] have been cut down by the great scythe and I must learn to be happy in my misfortune, though it is sad at 21 to have to walk like an old man of 60'; he has lost all his toes so can no longer stand cutting leather for shoes all day; possibility of letters being lost in the post. |