June 23rd, 1880

id quod plerumque accidit

(Issue No. 1 of the St. Crispian’s Gazette is free, as it is the letter that was sent with the Emma book box this spring. Later this week, Issue No. 2 will be posted for all paid subscribers. Enjoy!)

June 23rd, 1880

Dear Henry,

Claire’s birthday gift arrived by post Thursday last. I am grateful and disturbed by the package in equal measure. She is now an enthusiastic entomologist, wielding joy as she suffocates half the insects in Nottinghamshire before impaling them with a pin and securing them to the mounting board. You are a wonderful uncle. I say this despite the fact that a dead beetle with one leg missing was bestowed on my pillow yesterday, with a scrap of pink ribbon.

I am now going to tell you something which you will not find pleasant, but do keep your temper at an abeyance, for all our sakes. I have heard from Madame La Coste. She writes from Nice, where Margaret and her classmates have been enjoying clement weather, fresh lemons, and plein air painting, as well as a chaperoned…