| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, 7 Via Venti Settembre, Rome, to her relatives, regarding Uncle's visit to the Bentons at Nettuno, Anzio; they stayed at Mrs. Dodge's house as usual; she has done well as a portrait painter in America and hopes to return to Rome; the dining room chimney was swept in his absence; the drawing room and study were cleaned and the carpets rolled up with naphthaline which is of low quality and expensive; camphor has also gone up and evaporates too quickly; she has been visiting the director at the Mission Sanitaire; her application to Paris seems to have come to nothing, but he will help her go to France and try again from there; efforts to make sure there will be an organist if she goes at short notice; Ernesta has been summoned home by her sister to deal with an encroachment on their land by their neighbour, home on leave; this is awkward as Maria is busy with her sick sister and her family; Ernesta is too easily bullied by her younger sister, because her parents disregarded Ernesta as she was deaf-mute for the first three years of her life, then became the family drudge; Amelia is sorry for her; Francesca is to help out for a little; Amelia says that the best thing to do is to leave for the summer and close the house, but Uncle wants to stay in Rome for June at least; his excuse is that cases of Scriptures are expected at the beginning of July, but that is Cordano's business; Aunt is not sleeping well, not helped by the sound of the telegraph machine next door in the War Office; it is too hot for her and both her hand and her back ache; Amelia is growing very thin and Aunt is worried that if she stays much longer in Rome she will not be fit to work; she cannot afford the bottles of tonic she used to have and the Italian version made her ill; Uncle deserves to be left behind but she wishes she could take Aunt away with her; Mrs. Rose is beginning to recover; Hale Benton has called with a letter of recommendation from the Board of Management regarding her organ playing; it is a very good one, but she hopes she might have a more supportive congregation in the future; main news of the week is the visit of the Prince of Wales; fight over tickets to Empire Day tea party; the refreshments were badly arranged and several soldiers took more than their share; Uncle and Aunt were introduced; the Italians see the Prince as the possible future husband of their Princess Yolanda, now 17; the Deaconess denies this hotly as the Princess is Roman Catholic, and says there is a marriage arranged for him at home; he has been too busy at the front (including Asiago) to think of marriage anyway; gala celebration at the Augusteo, attended by the Prince, Sir Rennell and Lady Rodd, and Prince Peter of Montenegro; orchestra directed by Molinari; Amelia was impressed by the Prince, who was giving an address and representing his father for the first time; they were also addressed by M. Jules Simon, a French orator and Parliamentarian; Orlando, the Prime Minister, also spoke; account of his experience at a small railway station in northern Italy, watching the arrival of French troops and admiring their efficiency and spirit; an honour of the British Empire has been offered to Miss Jazdowska and Miss Palmer, though Miss Jazdowska thought of refusing it (because it was not only offered to her, Amelia thinks) [There were Jazdowskis associated with teaching and art in Aberdeen: James Bronislas Jazdowski, son of John, teacher in Aberdeen, graduated from Marischal College in 1856 and according to an annotation of the Search Room student list died in Rome in 1902]; Ernesta is to leave tomorrow but they suspect that she is only to go and fill her sister's situation while her sister goes home for a holiday; W.P. Henderson has resigned from Leghorn. |