“Arnie.”
The year following Mrs. Septimus Buss was her companion, and she writes to her brother—
“Roma, Dec. 31, 1877.
“Dear old Sep,
“Don’t you talk about letters! We have written to you every day but one, and that represents a good deal when you remember Roman habits. We are, however, always wanting news of you.
“Rome is, I think, more delightful than ever. Why is it? The weather is not so fine as you and I had it last year, though magnificent compared with English climate.
“We hear all sorts of things. To-day I was told that, when some cuttings for a new street near Cardinal Antonelli’s Villa were being made, a skeleton, with a splendid crown on its head, was found.
“Before 1870 there were no schools for the poor. Now all Italy has public schools, free, attended by many thousands of children.”
The next year she writes to her sister—
“Every place I go to is full of you. You and I are so fully in sympathy in so many things—here especially—that it seemed almost as if our hearts beat in unison last year. My present party is delightful; they are pleasant, cultivated girls, and are very amiable. There has not even been a jar. But surely I am not very difficult for them to get on with?”