My sweetest, dearest, best,

I had hoped to have time to quietly sit down & write you without any haste. But thrice I had tried to see Tom Butler today, & and last resort went down after tea, did not find him so went to gab with Dr. Mullin for a while, while it seems he was on his way here. Result, we went for a drive & did not get back till towards 10 o'clock. Mary came about 3 hr. in. Tom is rejoiced. I saw Mr. Fletcher. He told me his sister was to be at London. So if she asks you to go for a few days with her, by all means go, and I will not feel at all disappointed at not seeing you on the train tomorrow, but rather pleased that you are taking a good rest.

Chisholm & I had a good laugh this afternoon. Hilda, Ruby & Tom all appeared at the office about 3 o'clock with faces as dirty as sin to remind me that I must take them out at 5 o'clock driving, & "we had to come because Tom was determined to & to know that he could sit in the front seat."

Now, my jewel, I must go to the p.o. if I want this to go tonight. I am awfully sorry that I could not have had an hour or time for foolery, for, I intended to write a poem in "The Allocated."

Gave them a fresh Salmon Trout caught last night for dinner. Children all declared they had never had so nice a fish. Edna Maggy is just lovely. She insisted on standing on her feet for about an hour with me tonight.¹

Yours in haste, but most lovingly,

¹ Mary Baker McQuesten suffered nervous exhaustion from time and required treatment. Her seventh child mentioned here, "Edna Maggy" [Margaret Edna) was born in October 1885 so is just 6 months old. (One child, (Muriel) died in Nov. 1880 at the age of 18 mos.)