| Description | Elizabeth thanks her mother for the letter and card which she had sent to her in Saxe-Meiningen. She remarks that she hoped her mother had enjoyed Christmas day, writing that 'Christmas Eve' had been the focus of the celebrations in Germany. The girls had been called into the sitting room at the school to 'see the tree, & everything' and had then been given tea and cake. Elizabeth comments that the cake had been 'just like our English', with plums, candied lemon and currants. Elizabeth's mother had sent her a photograph of her younger sister Josephine to whom Elizabeth refers as 'Joe'. Elizabeth writes that she was disappointed with the photograph, adding 'I hope she'll still be a little thing when we get home, & not grown tall'.
Elizabeth writes that dancing lessons at the school would be finishing the following Thursday with a ball. She describes the 'tableaus' which the school were having the following Saturday. These 'tableaus', or scenes, involved the girls dressing in Romany costume and playing music with drums, trumpets, whistles, bells and the piano.
Elizabeth notes that school would begin again on 8th January 1873, remarking that it would be almost a year since her mother had come to Margaret and Elizabeth when they were in Dorking and told them that they would be going to school in Germany.
Please note that the date of this letter is unclear. It is dated as 'Sunday, 29th 72'. According to C. R. Cheney's 'Handbook of Dates' the 29th fell on a Sunday in both September and December of 1872. Comments in Elizabeth's letter suggest that the letter was written in December, as she refers to her family's forthcoming 'New years day' arrangements and remarks about Christmas in the past tense. At the conclusion of her letter Elizabeth remarks on the next school term beginning in 1873 which supports the December dating. |