Julia was inviting Jervis, Sallie was inviting Jimmie.

Lock Willow, June 19^th

She was educated. Daddy had sent her rosebuds. Jervis and Jimmie both gave her roses, too, but she took Daddy’s in the class procession.

‘The board is cheap; the surroundings quiet and conductive to a literary life’. All she wanted was peace and quiet and lots of time to work.

Jervis was coming for a week in August. Jimmie was gong to drop in. He was connected with a bond house that time, and went about the country selling bonds to banks. He was going to combine the ‘Farmers’ National’ at the corners.

July 12^th

She found it fun to work on her book.

Collin was a new cheep dog.

Amasai and Carrie had got married last May. ‘I’ve determined never to marry. It’s a deteriorating process’.

Judy was thinking to start incubator the future spring. She decided to stay at Lock Willow until she had written 114 novels like Anthony Trollope’s mother. Then she would have completed her life work and could retire and travel.

Mr James McBride came and she was awfully glad to see him; he brought a momentary reminder that the world at large existed. He had a hard time peddling his bonds. She thought he would end by going home to Worcester and taking a job in his father’s factory.

P.S.

Jervis was coming, and Judy was afraid that her poor book would suffer. Master Jervie was very demanding.

Aug 27^th

She felt very lonely.

She was thinking of moving to Boston with Sallie in winter to share a studio.

Daddy’s secretary – Elmer H. Griggs. She hated him.

Lock Willow, Sept 19^th

She was very unhappy and needed for Daddy’s advice. She would like to see him instead of writing.

Lock Willow, Oct 3^rd

Daddy had written her a note in his own hand and asked her to tell him her trouble. He had been being ill.

She was sending him a cheque for 100$ as she had sold her story and it would be published serially in 7 parts, and then it a book.

She told she had a special feeling to Jervis. They were entirely companionable. They thought the same about everything – she was afraid she had a tendency to make over her ideas to match his. He was 14 years older her. She missed him.

She had refused to marry him. There was a misunderstanding between them: he thought she refused as she wanted to marry Jimmie McBride – but she didn’t; he wasn’t grown up enough. She cared a lot about Jervis and she refused, as she had never told him about the orphan asylum, and she hated to explain that she didn’t know who she was.

She wrote the novel and wanted to continue writing as she was thankful to Daddy for the education.

Judy received a letter from Julia and had known that Jervis had been caught out all night in a storm when he was hunting in Canada and had been ill since with pneumonia.

Oct 6^th

Daddy had sent her an invitation to come to see him at half-past 4 the future Wednesday afternoon and Judy was agreed. ‘I am really going to see you – I’ve been just thinking of you so long that it hardly seems as though you are a tangible flesh-and-blood person’.

She had been in New York 3 times.

Thursday morning

She didn’t sleep that night.

‘The fear that something may happen to you rests like a shadow on my heart. Always before I could be frivolous and care-free and unconcerned, because I had nothing precious to lose. But mow – I shall have a Great Big Worry’.

‘The doctor said I must be a good nurse, that you looked ten years younger’.

‘Yesterday was the most wonderful day that could happen’. Daddy lived on Madison Avenue in a big, brown and forbidding house.

His butler: a nice, fatherly old man that made Judy feel at home at once. ‘I knew from the way he said it [caring about Mr Smith] that he loved you – and I think he’s an old dear’.

It was dim in the library.

‘Then you [Jervis] laughed and held out your hand and said, ‘Dear little Judy, couldn’t you guess that I was Daddy-Long-Legs?’

‘What must I call you? Just plain Jervie sounds disrespectful, and I can’t be disrespectful to you’.

It was a very sweet half hour before the doctor came and sent her away.

It was climbing weather and she walked around with Colin visiting all the places that she and Jervis went to together, and remembered what he said and how he looked.

‘I shall never let you be sorry for a single instant’.

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 834