Viewing page 13 of 28

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Venice Jan. 11/85

My dearest Emmie.

Your letter just after Xmas. arrived the other day. I am very sorry I was unable to accept your kind invitation for the leap year party: but trust you had a much better dancer for a partner than your fat friend of artistic proclivities would have been. I cant [[can't]] imagine where H.A.S. got those letters. I thought I had done away with all my letters as I went through everything just before leaving home. However I am sorry and will try to do better next time.

It has been bad weather here for the last few days, so we could not do much out of doors. Our model is also sick and that prevents my finishing my picture. In the mean time I am manufacturing Christmas cards.  It is a fearful drop from high art to Xmas cards but I cant help it, I must have the money. We have a lot of fresh arrivals at the hotel. An american gentleman, his wife, daughter and her friend an english girl. They are friends of the other Americans who were here.

The girl is very jolly and rather pretty, plays nicely on the [[wire?]] box.

The old gent wanted to know how much I would ask to paint his portrait. Hop [[Hope]] I can strike him. We christened him Rutherford and his wife Lucy. They look as if that might be their names. They have just come from Germany. The sun has just cralled [[crawled]] out and I hope it will be pleasant tomorrow. I bought a rather pretty pin the other day; it is in the shape of a violin and is of filagree silver work with gold strings. They are all the go here. I am going to send it in a news paper, so if you receive the paper without it you may know it has been confiscated. It is rather pretty and I