Oct 28th / 17
Suffolk

My Dear Betty;-

At last I am on leave, and enjoying an experience which will stay with me all through life. Such kindness and and sympathy and thoughtfulness, and such splendid friendliness it is all a revelation and the very memory of it all will be something to be treasured and will be an inspiration to live up to the high opinion and regard of those who have given me so unstintingly of their friendship. I arrived here from London on Wednesday evening about 7 PM I had a ten mile auto-drive from the station Ipswich through the most beautiful country and was accorded a most warm welcome by Lady Tollemache also the friends who are staying with her. ( Hon Miss Grace Tollemache daughter of Lady T, is also here Lady Lowe and Mrs Blow with her two lovely children a boy and girl, the girlie just about Billy age and the boy about three delightful children they are, and we are great chums, I go into the nursery and undress the laddie ready for his bath and then when they are in bed I will tell them the stories of the 3 Bears - Ridinghood etc, etc, like we used to tell to our own dear children - and tell them about Shirley and her moss-bag doll and Billy and his sleigh etc-etc, they are very-very interested, and their Mother (a lovely woman and the nurse enjoy it about as much as they do, needless to say I enjoy it so much, it is the next best thing to being with my own dear babies and wiffie. Mrs Blow is a neice of Lady T, and her husband is agent for the Duke of Westminster's vast estates, The Tollemache's are also connected to the Duke of Westminster, indeed they are related to some of the best and oldest families in England and Scotland. The Earl of Aberdeen is brother to Lady Tollemache, and if not related to some of the leaders of the Nation to day, they are on friendly and intimate terms with most of them - Lloyd George -Ipswich- Balfour - Churchill -Lord Derby - Sir Douglas Hayne - French Admiral Sir David Beaty and hosts of others = It seems very much of a dream that I should be here treated as an honored guests and an equal in every way. The House itself is a large - large one there must be nearly if not quite 300 rooms in it it dates from the 11th or 12th century. I will enclose a rough outline of it.

My room the Panelled Room is a dream in beauty and rich with inspiration from the storied past - it is a room reserved for the most honored guests - in it have slept some of the greatest and noblest of England during the last 700 years. And in recent years men like General Wolsely - Lord Roberts - Kitchener - Blafour - Lord Salsbury and a host of others have stayed in it - it is oak paneled right clear up to the ceiling and upon the panels hang steel engravings of the choicest literary and poetical lights of the last 1,000 years. All the furniture is centuries old (solid oak) except for the two of three modern easy chairs - The bed is a monster affair, you know the old four posters well this is massive - splendid carving, all the armoural bearings etc of the Tollemache family are carved on its ceiling and keep watch over you as you slumber or stay awake to admire beneath - the room is hung with Pinkand white curtain and tapestrys, the oak paneling of course is not obscured. There is a large open fire place, in which at the present moment a large fire is blazing, and I might also add that I am writing this by the light of candles, in priceless porcelain candlesticks = Oh I cannot describe the place - I wish you could see the Great-Hall hung with old armour and spears etc, etc, and trophys of the chase, and its great open fire place. There is a moat about 30 ft wide all round the house - the moat teems with fish, and it is crossed by two draw bridges one for foot and the other for vehicles - both are lifted at night and lowered again in the Morning. The Hall or rather Castle is built in a square, and the center of course is the courtyard - The gardens, are among the finest is England or anywhere for that matter, and are some 200 years older than the Hall (about 1000 years or so)

The Hall stands in the center of a large Park thickly wooded with giant oak and elm chiefly, and a large herd of Red-Deer and Black Deer (wild) live in and there must be hundreds of them, there are several small lakes in the Park well stocked with fish. Needless to say, there are rich collections of priceless paintings etc - etc, and the great library with its rare old books needless to say is a delight to me and I spend a good deal of my time in it. There is a wonderful old church on the estate, and I had the great and unique privilege of preaching the sermon at this evenings service. Something unusual preaching in an Anglican Church, in Old England, I esteem it as a high honour. Now dear Betty I must close for now, with just a word again about the extreme kindness of these gentle and noble, truly aristocratic people. Lady Lowe belongs to a family no less distinguished than Lady Tollemache her grandfather was a governor of New-Brunswick in the early days, and her husband has held similar positions in various parts of the Empire, she herself is a most brilliant woman quite a literary genius, and is on intimate terms with all the literary leaders worth knowing both in England and elsewhere - she is a beautiful character and sweet disposition, and one of these days soon you may receive a letter from her for she asked me of she might write to you - she wants to tell you, she said what they think of me. I shall never - never forget all her kindness and the kindness of her friends as long as I live - many of our snobbish wealthy people in Canada would give a million to two, if they could have the entre into such a circle - and the people I have met over here, are just the kind who will be life long friends.

I shall be leaving next Thursday or Friday for London, and return to Bramshott on Sunday - My it will be rather hard to settle down to a soldier's life again after this = The maid comes into my room in the morning about 8 o'clock, to draw the curtains - bring my shaving and bathwater, light the fire, also a cup of tea - I go down to Breakfast at 9-15 - Lunch at 1 P.M. - Tea at 4-30 and Dinner at 8 P.M. = the intervals are spent walking with the ladies - playing with the children - reading etc-etc. It seems almost too strange good to be true, that I should be here in such an environment and I feel sometimes that I shall wake up and find it all a dream.

I really don't know what on earth I have done, to make such friends as these. Well I really must wind up dear - Kiss my babies for me I should the friends all your pictures, and they said all kinds of nice things about you and the kiddies, but especially you Hugs and Kisses and best love to you Dear, God bless and keep you ever prays

Your loving Husband
Daddy