(*1)
BCARS
AlE OrJ Or32
File XI
[envelope]
Recd 5th Feby
Ans 5 ” 97
Honble. P. O’Reilly
Point Ellice
Victoria
British Columbia
Canada
Bailey’s Hotel
17th January 1897
My dear Father
Many thanks for your dear letter of 26th Decr I am always so delighted to hear from home and glad to know you are all well. I am sorry you had such a dull Christmas it seems a pity you could not have had a party for dinner. I wrote to dear Mother by the last mail (Tuesday’s) so it will be a week, I am afraid, before you receive this. carry & I came up from Folkestone on Thursday morning & intend to return tomorrow after I have a tooth done by Mr. Woodhouse. We did mean to have gone back last evening but stayed on. I wonder if Uncle Joe has written to you, he & Josephine came down to F. on Tuesday afternoon. I told him that I had to do some shopping to send to B.C. & was coming up with Carry & we were going to a play with Capt. Stanhope. he was very nice about it at first, but said he must come up to take care of me. Carry & I wanted to come alone & we said we should be busy etc & he agreed not to come. but I must tell you I was very angry when I found out fr. Josephine, the next day, that he had been telling her about my affairs he said, she knew all about Mr. s. & that she was staying at pt Ellice, when he used to come every day to the house which is untrue! then he said you & Mother had consulted with him for hours about me, on this subject. I do’nt think you wd do so in any case, & I do’nt believe you did, when I specially asked you not to. However I did not say anything to him but I told Josephine, I considered he had no right to talk to her about me that he had asked me a lot of questions & then said he wished to behave to me just as my Father & Mother would, & that directly I had left him, he had done the very thing you wd never do – talk about me. perhaps it wd have been better, not to have said it. I was angry, & Josephine told him directly what I had said, so I suppose he is annoyed with me I have not seen him since but I expect it has blown over & I wd not tell you this unless I thought he wd say something about it to you. Never tell him anything he repeats it, & embroiders, I fear. I ought not to have told him, Mr. Stanhope came to F. on last Sunday but I supposed the other would, & I hoped he wd not make such a talk about it. He said he wd write to this hotel & tell them we were coming here but he did not, so a note Mr. S. wrote asking us to 1unch was sent to Folkestone & only returned to me on Friday evening. Carry & I went to lunch with Lady Chesterfield yesterday afternoon & found her very charming & friendly. She seems to put one at ease at once. She is absurdly like Mr. Stanhope in appearance, and very bright in manner, she was very friendly to us both said she was so glad to know me and told Carry she must come to lunch whenever she came up to town to shop. Mr. s. looked better than he did the day he came down here but seemed worried & of course is very busy preparing to take command of his ship, which is the “Melita” stationed as guard ship at Constantinople, on account of Armenian troubles. I was very nervous about going to the lunch but it was such a pleasant little party, we both enjoyed it. There was a Mrs. Murray, Lady Chesterfield’s nice, young & pretty – we both liked her very much, and a Colonel Fraser, who I suppose was also a relation as he called Lady Chesterfield Dora. he reminded me very much of Adm. Stephenson. After lunch we went to a play “The Geisha” you wd be charmed with it, so prettily acted & put on the stage & such pretty music. Lady C. and the Colonel, did not go, she laughed & said she had not been asked to go. When we came out from the play, it was snowing, so we parted & came back to the hotel.
Folkestone 19 Jan.
Carry & I came back here last evening the weather is very cold snow fell & now it is freezing. We did not see anything more of Mr. Stanhope I understood him to say he was coming to see us on Sunday evening, & I have not heard from him why he did not, but really any notes we have written always seem to go astray for days or weeks that I think he may have written. Tell me if.he wrote to Mother. he said again we ought to have come to England a year ago & that he was coming back to B.C. but I do’nt know what he meant. I am very glad we went up to town and enjoyed the outing, & we did not do anything we ought not to have done, & I cannot see why Uncle Joe made a fuss about it, but you can understand that I was extremely annoyed to find he talked about it, especially when I told him there was nothing to say but I have not told him what I think & I do not intend to speak about it again. The Admiral tells me that after we went to London, he came here & asked him, if he was in the secret, so of course the Admiral asked me what it was all about & I said “Nothing but Uncle Joe imagines things & then talks of them as if they were true & I feel angry with him & shall write & tell my Father” – so the Adm. told me I must not make mischief as you were very fond of one another but dear Father you & Mother told me to tell you everything in my letters as if I was with you & I hope it will not worry you for it is all over now & please do not mention it to him or ever say a word to him about me. he is getting old, & has to talk I suppose. Yesterday was his birthday so I sent him a telegram of congratulations from London. I have not seen him since I returned last evening it is cold and stormy. This is only half a letter I am so sorry I cannot write more as it is post time nearly.
Two letters fr. home this morning such a pleasure to me. I am glad Mother say you had a cosy Xmas together. I have sent Jacks undervest drawers & Franks suit is to go. I think I may ask Mr. Ward to take black coat & vest for summer for F. & pr. boots for Jack & one or two little things I have picked up & w like to have off my hands. I feel this is a horrid letter. I am very well going to the Barclays to stay for a few days & a dance on 28. Jessie wants me to go to Ireland for month & I think better decide to go fr.the Barclays as Uncle Joe tells me he is quite undecided about plans & seems to be waiting indefinitely about London for board meetings! He goes next week to stay with the Mucklows for shooting & Josephine comes here to stay with Aunt Em.
No more now, much dear love to you all dears & many thanks for letters
Your loving child
Pussy
(*1) — 2020 – This letter is also part of the O'Reilly Letters 1896-97 Collection.
Back to 1897 Correspondence
This collection of letters has been digitized from an earlier transcription project and is for informational purposes only. This transcription has not been verified against the originals. Researchers interested in these letters should consult the original documents housed at the BC Archives.