A Letter from Corinna Lee to Peter Lymington:
Peter honey, go right out and buy yourself a pair of yellow stockings. Did you know that meant being jealous? I didn’t until Mrs. Bell, who is my cousin Car’s landlady, told me. There’s a girl in the same house-and isn’t she a friend of yours, and why didn’t you tell me about her? Her name is Fay Everitt, and she’s pretty but very bad style, and she hates me like I hate cold water down the back of my neck, and I couldn’t think why until Mrs. Bell said, “It’s just her yellow stockings, Miss.” Well, I thought she was color blind, and I said, “They’re not yellow, Mrs. Bell, -they’re taupe.” And she laughed and laughed, and told me, “yellow stockings is just a way of saying folks is jealous, miss.” She said Fay Everitt “wears them constant.” I don’t think she likes my being friends with my cousin Car.
Peter, he is a perfect lamb. So now you know why you’ve got to go out right away and buy yourself those yellow stockings. Isn’t it a pity he’s got a girl already?
Why didn’t you tell me about her? I’m not wearing yellow stockings, because I love her too. She is an enchanting person called Isobel Tarrant, and she lives with a perfectly fierce aunt in a real old cottage with 1675 over the door. Why didn’t you tell me about Isobel? I can’t think why you didn’t fall in love with her. Perhaps you didn’t know her-that would be a good reason. Or perhaps you didn’t want to snatch her from Car. Or perhaps you are secretly in love with her all the time. Please tell me about this when you write. If there are any dark secrets in your past, I would like to know about them right away, and not find them out afterwards like they always do in books. I think I have used the wrong adjective. Isobel couldn’t be a dark secret-she isn’t that sort. But even if she’s a bright secret, I would want to know about her.
I am going down to Linwood to stay. I love Linwood and my cousin John, but I am glad that Anna Lang is not my cousin. She is only Cousin John’s wife’s niece, and not my relation at all. Car says he is glad about this too. I love Car. But perhaps you needn’t be very jealous-I have just mailed a letter to Poppa to tell him that if he thinks I’m forgetting you over here, he’s just got to think again. I’d be very lonely without you if I didn’t think a lot about how real nice it was going to be when I get back.
Do you think about me every day? I hope you do. Poppa said I wasn’t to write you love letters whilst I was over here. He couldn’t call this one a love letter, could he-not reasonably? But it kind of feels as if it was going to turn into one, so I should think I had better stop.
Corinna
If I hadn’t promised Poppa, I would send you my love and a lot of kisses.
Dear Peter, I send you my kind regards. I will tell Poppa I sent them.