me of the
time, but when anything irritates him, and something does every few
minutes, he breaks loose, and such another explosion you never heard. It
does not mean a thing, and it seems to lower his tension enough to keep
him from bursting with palpitation of the heart or something, but it is
a strain for others. At first it frightened me dreadfully. Grandmother
is so tiny and frail, so white in her big bed, and when he is the very
worst, and she only smiles at him, why I know he does not mean it at
all. But, David, I hope you never will get an idea that this would be
a pleasant way for you to act, because it would not, and I never would
have the courage to offer you the love I have come to find if you
slammed a cane and yelled, 'demnation,' at me. Grandmother says she does
not mind at all, but I wonder if she did not acquire the habit of lying
in bed because it is easier to endure in a prostrate position.

"The house is so big I get lost, and I do not know yet which are
servants and which friends; and there is a steady stream of seamstresses
and milliners making things for me. Grandmother and father both think I
will be quite passable in appearance when I am what they call 'modishly
dressed.' I think grandmother will forget herself some day and leave her
bed before she knows it, in her eagerness to see how something appears.
I could not begin to tell you about all the lovely things to wear, for
every occasion under the sun, and they say these are only temporary,
until some can be made especially for me.

"They divide the time in sections, and there is an hour to drive, I am
to have a horse and ride later, and a time to shop, so long to visit
grandmother, and set hours to sleep, dress, to be fitted, taken to see
things, music lessons, and a dancing teacher. I think a longer day will
have to be provided.

"I do not care anything about dancing. I know what would make me dance
nicely enough for anything, but I am going to try the music, and see if
I can learn just a few little songs and some old melodies for evening,
when the work is done, the fire burns low, and you are resting on the
rug. There is enough room for a piano between your door and the south
wall and that corner seems vacant anyway. You would like it, David, I
know, if I could play and sing just enough to put you to sleep nicely.
It is in the back of my head that I will try to do every single thing,
just as they want me to, and that will make them happy, bu