Yesterday we went to Batheaston Manor, a fine old Jacobean house, to tea—the kind of house that one has dreamt of possessing. There were high elms with rooks cawing and green lawns with immaculately gravelled paths. Inside there were broken landings and rooms with little stairs descending, and panelling, and pictures—everything for which one used to care. The late Belgian Minister to England, Count de la Laing, was there—a sad, courteous man. As we walked back with him to Bath along the canal, he remarked casually that all the art treasures in his château outside of Brussels had been shipped to Germany. We spent the afternoon seeing the King’s pictures—mostly Gainsboroughs—which have been brought to Bath from Buckingham Palace. From here we went to tea with an old lady, Miss Tanner, who rode on her lonesome through Persia many years ago and consequently has gained a Lady Hester Stanhope reputation and, what is more important, a splendid selection of Eastern rugs and silverwork. After that we walked home by way of the great crescent which forms the scene in The School for Scandal. An odd day to dodge in between experiences of European war! I have to pinch myself awake to remember what is happening at this moment in the Front-line trenches. Probably within a few weeks I shall be there—and feeling very much more contented with myself than I do now. XXXIV London March 31, 1918 Eric is with me. I am very glad to have him for my last days in England, and I do hope that Reggie may get here in time to see me. He’s ordered south in two weeks’ time, but I may be in France by then. I report at Canadian Headquarters to-morrow, and will probably be sent straight down to camp, and from there to France within two weeks. Have you seen General Currie’s stirring message to the Canadians, saying that he expects them to die to a man if, by so doing, they can push the Huns back? This summer will see the biggest of all the battles. I’m wildly excited and longing to get back. There’ll be some of the old glamour about this new fighting—it’s all in the open. We’ve got away from trench warfare at last. The beasts are all over the country which we fought for and have recaptured since 1916. They’ve destroyed for a second time all the reconstruction work that I saw in the devastated areas. I’m wondering if all the girls got out in time. There were so many American girls there.