Galgenberg, Dec. 16th.
Dear Mr. Anstruther,--I don't quite understand. Purely motherly, I
should say. Perhaps our notions of the exact meaning of the word friend
are different. I include in it a motherly and sisterly interest in
bodily well-being, in dry socks, warm feet, regular meals. I do not like
my friend to be out on a bitter night, to take a tiring journey, to be
disappointed. My friend's mother would have, I imagine, precisely the
same feeling. My friend should not, then, mistake mere motherliness for
other and less comfortable sentiments. But I am busy today, and have no
time to puzzle out your letter. It must have been the outcome of a
rather strange mood.
Yours sincerely,