February 15, 1919 to Mother

“Received your letter from St Augustine…glad to know you finally got down there. Know you will enjoy it and hope it will improve your rheumatism a lot.”

“Am finally getting away myself tomorrow,” though his plan has changed a bit. He will be “going partly on business partially on leave.  “We had requisitioned a number of large hotels down there for hospitals and are now giving them up and settling the damages.”  He’ll do that for a week and then “loaf for a week in addition.”  He will spend his loafing week “at Cannes and play golf as understand about the best golf there is.”

His mother has enclosed clippings on the inauguration of South Carolina’s new governor Robert Cooper but Monty is impressed with the new governor’s marriage to Dorcas Calmes. “Didn’t know of it before and was glad to know of her rise in the world though it did seem a bit funny to think of her as ‘the first lady of South Carolina.’”

He writes:  “Mr. Sharpe’s resignation came out here this morning. Had known of it since December as his daughter told me about it then and will be sorry to see them go as have come to know this eldest daughter and son fairly well and have had some very pleasant times at the Embassy.

“Speaking of Ambassadors, had quite a talk with Lord Derby’s daughter yesterday afternoon at a tea. She is typically English, not good looking but very pleasant.”

He now begins the long countdown:  “Guess I won’t see any of this spring in S.C. but hope to be there for the next one.”