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4 July 1898 — 3 Savile Row | |
Monday. 4th July [1898]. I was down at 9.30 & went to Arthur’s door. Nurse McArthur opened it & said I could see him but he was quite dazed & did not know what he was doing. I went in & found him on his couch & told him I was going away for the day & he put his arms round me & kissed me & said “Oh I shall be all right.” I left with a heavy heart having half a mind to stay—only all had been arranged for me & I felt so tired & worn I thought I had best go—so I went to Baker St & left for Chorley Wood by 10.24 train & reached Chenies abt 11.30. Adeline (Dss of Bedford) received me warmly. I found a Mrs Trotter there & Dr Moule– Sat in the garden under the trees drinking in the fresh air & really resting till 2 when we went in to lunch– At 4 we drove Mrs Trotter & Dr Moule in the poney carriage & I with Addie in the Victoria. We drove to Calford St Giles to see Milton’s cottage, where he took refuge from the plague of London. It was bought for the nation & is shown by the woman who lives in the cottage. The parlour is set apart & has copies of Milton’s poems photographs &c kept there. Addie got permission to give us tea out of a tea basket she had brought with her. After lingering awhile we went on to Jordans to see the first quaker’s meeting house built by Penn. It is situated in a lovely lonely spot & is quite simple & homely. Bare walls & wooden benches. A little burying room, now disused close to it has Penn’s grave & those of his 2 wives & a few other. To me there is something very fascinating in the place & it made me think I could have joined the quakers if I could worship in such a lovely place. We drove on to Beaconsfield—a delightful little clean town with a lovely church very nicely restored. In the churchyard we saw the monument & grave of Waller the poet. There was a charming old house close to the churchyard wh is being repaired & a girl told us it was the old vicarage & is being made fit for the school teachers to live in. It stands in a lovely old garden into which we penetrated & suddenly found ourselves at the back of the new Vicarage a fine Georgian house looking very solid & comfortable. We could see the clergyman writing in his study but we had not the pluck to venture to disturb him. We got back to Chenies after 8 & found Mr Trotter had joined his wife from London. Dr Moule read us out Charles Lamb’s charming essay on a London Quaker’s meeting house– I went to Addie’s room & we sat talking in our dressing gowns. | |
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