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 cap paper, and it turned out such a good dinner. George wanted me to send the bill of fare home to you, but I had unluckily torn it up. He is a great treasure of a cook, though eccentric (not to say mad) as a man. His only communication with the world is his interview with me on the subject of dinner, and he comes over, dressed in the very pink of the mode, and with a new pair of primrose kid gloves on. With a primrose mask over his black face he would look as well as any of us.

Thursday, March 30. George and I went on the river yesterday evening, and it was very pleasant. I finished off my model of Fairy and her puppies and had it put in ’s room. We had rather a large assemblage of visitors in the morning, and went up to Barrackpore in the evening. It was cruelly hot, as we had to set off an hour earlier than usual. We gave our usual Barrackpore military dinner to-day instead of Saturday, that it might be out of Fanny’s way; so we went up earlier, and even George owned that it was much like sitting too near the kitchen fire the first half of the way.