Dear John,
We are surely counting on you for Christmas. The girls will be here – Nell and Georgia; Martha and Ellen, then maybe Lacy, too. Hull has not been well for some time, is very anemic also very hard to manage. Try to arrange to pay us a real visit this time. The children are doing fairly well, not as well as we wish, but lots better than a good many. Ellen looked splendid when home last weekend. We all send love, affectionately, Duncan
