present situation - a fact that is rather concerning. She begins one sentence:

'Although I have no idea how I shall usefully fill the remainder of my life ...

' And again, elsewhere, she writes: 'The rest of my life stretches out as an

emptiness before me.' For the most part, though, as I have said, the tone is one

of nostalgia. At one point, for instance, she writes:

 

'This whole incident put me in mind of Alice White. Do you remember her? In

fact, I hardly imagine you could forget her. For myself, I am still haunted by

those vowel sounds and those uniquely ungrammatical sentences only she could

dream up! Have you any idea what became of her?'

 

I have not, as a matter of fact, though I must say it rather amused me to

remember that exasperating housemaid - who in the end turned out to be one of

our most devoted. At another point in her letter, Miss Kenton writes:

 

'I was so fond of that view from the second-floor bedrooms overlooking the lawn

with the downs visible in the distance. Is it still like that? On summer

evenings there. was a sort of magical quality to that view and I will confess to

you now I used to waste many precious minutes standing at one of those windows

just enchanted by it.'

 

Then she goes on to add:

 

'If this is a painful memory, forgive me. But I will never forget that time we

both watched your father walking back and forth in front of the summerhouse,