Letter from Lady Catherine Ashburnham to Rupert Gunnis

Asks where Gunnis found the entertaining letter which arrived this morning, and wonders who the two gossips were. It is curious that there is a Luxfords Wood, and a Colliers Wood at Ashburnham, and wonders whether they are small decayed manors, now farm houses. Her handwriting is deteriorating from reading and copying early documents. Discusses the character of the 2nd Earl of Ashburnham, and his desire to be awarded the Order of the Garter, also his wife, Elizabeth Crowley, who would run away to hide in the gazebo. The running away habit has always been in the family; her father called it 'gruddling away' and would hide behind a hedge or in a conservatory. One raw footman once stated that his lordship is not in, and had gone to the conservatory. CA also practises the art of gruddling, and will not even answer the telephone unless she knows who it is. Thinks that the vindictive cruelty of the Huns and probably the Russians is satanic; France will probably get the guillotine going again.