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Dear Mrs. Stewart,
I write this from the excellent hotel which you recommended. I am very grateful for your advice.
You will be pleased to know that the ferry crossing passed quite satisfactorily. I might even have
enjoyed it if a certain person had not asked me every three and a half minutes whether I felt quite
comfortable.
The menu for tonight looks most promising, although that said person keeps muttering about finding a
café and eating bits of bread dipped in hot cheese. I will keep you informed as to whether I manage to
avoid it.
Your friend,
Orlando Coppersmith
Lessons in Temptation
Dear Miss Peters,
Dr. Coppersmith and I are suffering a surfeit at present not, you ll be pleased to know, of lampreys,
but of historic buildings, gardens and antiquities.
You were quite right about the Mona Lisa; that lady has such a knowing expression on her face. I felt
as if she were boring into my mind and examining my every thought. (Very vexatious when one had been
recently studying the statues of Greek and Roman heroes.)
Dr. C. has a theory about the Venus de Milo which I dare not write on a post card.
I hope the rest of our holiday is as first class as the last few days have been.
Fond regards,
Jonty Stewart
&ð
Miss Peters,
You requested that I should write to you with my impressions of my first sojourn abroad. I am
delighted to inform you that it is very agreeable. Paris is not a patch on Cambridge, but the city has its own
charms.
I would say my only regret is that the ladies and gentlemen depicted in the Louvre had not been more
modest in their choice of apparel. There is only so much voluptuousness one can take.
Please notify your brother that I have purchased the things he required, although Dr. Stewart says
they will raise a few eyebrows as we come through customs.
Sincerely,
Dr. Coppersmith
www.samhainpublishing.com 127
Charlie Cochrane
Dear Mrs. Ward,
As I write this we are settling into our berths, having elected to take the overnight train; we do so
want to see the sunrise over the Riviera.
You will be very pleased to know that the hotels and restaurants have all been very clean, although I
suppose that bread, cheese, olives and white wine does not constitute your idea of a proper lunch.
We have been able to find laundry facilities which I hope will live up to the standards you require; if
not I apologise in advance.
I shall seek for the very best tortoiseshell comb I can find, although I wish you had taken up my offer
of bringing you back a Parisian hat.
Regards,
Dr. Stewart
&ð
Mrs. Ward,
I know you were very concerned about us eating nothing but snails and frogs legs and all of them
smothered in garlic, but the food has actually been quite acceptable. Even if Dr. Stewart has managed to
smear bread and cheese all over himself on regular occasions.
We are settling into our wagon lit and will soon be speeding through the countryside, much of which
we will not see until morning. Dr. Stewart assures me the South of France is a lovely place and Monte
Carlo will be a treat. We shall see.
Sincerely,
Dr. Coppersmith
128 www.samhainpublishing.com
Lessons in Temptation
Papa,
You were entirely right in saying that I d enjoy the Riviera much more with a friend at my side.
Orlando has taken to life here absolutely like a duck to water. You should see him at the pavement cafés in
his white linen suit, turning all the ladies heads.
The train journey was truly excellent and the sun coming up over the cliffs was a sight to behold.
I shall endeavour to bring home as much of the wine you recommended as the customs men will let
me; our portion we will simply have to drink here, alas.
We made a foray to the casino last night while I remain a poorer but wiser Jonathan, Orlando is
rolling in it.
Love,
Jonty
&ð
Mr. Stewart,
I now understand why you praised France so highly. I am not ready to admit this entirely to your
youngest son, but this has been an excellent holiday and all the things I viewed with trepidation have
proved to be not daunting at all.
I would like to tell you about a little plan I put into operation at the casino. Dr. Panesar and I had
devised a strategy, back at St. Bride s, that we were sure would yield fruit at the tables. It has proved
entirely successful and reaped very handsome dividends. Jonty naturally says that it s beginner s luck
and I will come a cropper and other coarse expressions, but I believe that the logical application of
mathematics has been practically proven again.
Your friend,
Orlando Coppersmith
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Charlie Cochrane
Maurice,
I do hope this card reaches you before Dr. Coppersmith s, as I wish you to be in possession of all the
facts rather than just his no-doubt economical version of the truth.
He had been doing very well at the casino with the system you two devised, making steady but not
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