Whilst Charles was interviewing Miss Silver, Miss Greta Wilson was writing to Stephanie Poison.
Oh, Stephanie, I’ve had the most thrilling adventures. I’m really having them still. It’s frightfully exciting, and you’ll be frightfully angry with me, because I can’t tell you about them-at least I can only tell you bits, because I promised Charles and Margaret I wouldn’t tell anyone the other bits-at least not till they said I could. So you’ll just have to be frightfully angry. I’m staying with Margaret, and I can’t even tell you her name or give you my address, because that’s one of the bits I promised not to. Margaret is a dear, and so is Charles. Margaret has known him for years and years and years, but I do believe he really likes me best, because he took me out for the whole day yesterday which was Sunday, and he didn’t take Margaret, though it’s her day at home. She works in a hat-shop every day, and she doesn’t get home till half past six-so it would be very dull for me, only Charles says he will come and cheer me up. Archie would come too if he could. Archie is another friend of Margaret’s. He and Charles are friends too. It’s frightfully jolly everyone being friends, after having such a dreadfully dull time. Archie can’t come and take me out like Charles can, because he has to go to his office. He says he is an oddment in a publishing firm. He says they only took him because his uncle was in it. He says he is rotten at it. But I think he is frightfully clever-he knows lots of quotations out of Shakespeare and other people like that. I don’t know whether I like him best or Charles. Charles is an explorer, but he isn’t exploring just now. He is the handsomest. He has grey eyes and a most frightfully romantic frown, but he isn’t quite as tall as Archie is. Archie is five feet eleven and three-quarters, and he says if he hadn’t been brought up frightfully strictly and simply made to tell the truth, he would call it six foot. He has got blue eyes, but not many eyelashes-just ordinary, you know. But Charles has a lot of black eyelashes and frightfully black eyebrows. They go all twisty when he is cross. I shouldn’t like them to go all twisty at me.
Saturday was the first day I was with Margaret, and Charles and Archie came to tea, and we all went to the cinema and saw a most frightfully thrilling drama-only I can’t tell you about it now. Archie came home with us, but Charles rushed off in a frightfully sudden sort of way as soon as we came out. On Sunday morning he came quite early with a car, and he said would I like to go down to Bognor, and I said I would, and we went. He didn’t ask Margaret.
In the evening he and Archie came to supper. They brought their supper with them because Margaret said she hadn’t any. Archie brought sardines and bananas, and Charles brought all sorts of exciting things-lots more than we could eat, so Margaret and I are eating them up-they are frightfully good. He brought chocolates too-really thrilling ones. I think I really do like Charles best. But I like Archie too. After supper Mr. Pelham came in. He is Margaret’s stepfather, and I’m not sure whether I ought to have said what his name was, so don’t tell anyone and tear my letter up, because I sort of promised Margaret I wouldn’t say anyone’s name. But I think she’s a bit of a fuss, don’t you? It isn’t as if you’d be seeing Egbert-is it? Margaret’s stepfather is frightfully nice. They all call him Freddy. He said I could too. I’ve never called such an old person by their Christian name before, so I didn’t do it at first-not till he seemed quite hurt and said didn’t I like him. So of course I said I did, and then I called him Freddy, only I got most frightfully red when I did it, and they all laughed, and Freddy said he felt most frightfully flattered, and he said might he have the pleasure of taking me to a matinee, and what would I like to see, and could I come on Wednesday? But I said couldn’t it be Saturday so Margaret could come too? And he said “All right,” and he asked Charles to come, and Charles said he would. He didn’t like it when Freddy asked me, nor did Margaret. I don’t know why they didn’t. Archie couldn’t come because he was playing a football match. Charles says he is very good at it.
I mustn’t write any more, because I shall use all Margaret’s paper, and I’ve only got a shilling to buy any more. When you’ve only got a shilling, there are hundreds of things you want to buy.
MARGOT