Monday
Chiswick
Dearest,
The posts are beginning to get a bit erratic. Your letter postmarked 18th – but no time on it – only arrived here about 11.30 and if you posted a letter on Sunday, as I hope you did, it has not come yet. With all this in mind I thought I had better let you have your Xmas letter now while I had the chance. In view of that letter I hope you will excuse this short note, but I want to catch a reasonable post if I can and I’m writing this at Chiswick, having come straight home to see if there was a letter for me.
By now you should have received the parcel and I hope you thought the things suitable. You will see a butterfly in one of Wendy’s parcels from Jack and Dot when she opens it. The idea is to stick it on the mirror in her room, or on the wall in the bathroom. I had thought of the window but that might lead to a really serious accident if they were sticking it on the window and slipped.
I thought that as Wendy’s was obviously a mild case of infection perhaps you need not have bothered about all her bedclothes every day. What an enormous amount of wash just when you are busy enough as it is this week. I can see you being tired out by the time I do get home on leave. Thanks for the warning about which parcel is taboo – and I only hope you haven’t included the hankies in that one because if you have I shall have to buy something else for Jack. As soon as I get the parcels, I’ll acknowledge them. I’ve told you already that we got the cake. That reminds me. I asked you to thank Eric for the watch. Apparently you forgot about it! I’ll have your trousers off – happy thought. What a lot of excuses I’ll have on this leave. I can see you catching your death of cold, sweetheart. But what a death. Oh, love, I mustn’t start like that today.
Penny’s name is Mitchell, but I can’t remember the initials. Did I include Uncle Tom in the Xmas card list? I don’t think I did. Will you send him one? Thanks for thinking of the Smiths and the Grants. Ralph Oliver said Mrs Smith always asks after me!
I can imagine the children’s parcels. I’ve suffered them on occasion!
Well, darling, that’s all for today. I’m nearly asleep and it is only 2 o’clock! Must go to the post with this and get a loaf for my dinner.
Let me know what the Xmas arrangements are, if there’s time after you get this.
Bye, precious. I still love you, though God knows why! Sorry this letter’s so scrappy.
All my love.
Ever your own,
Arthur
P.S. My love to the children. It seems ages since I heard from them.
Dec 211942