Floating Ideas

[Ophelia Dippet]

8 November 1887

My dear November,

I can't possibly describe to your how wonderful it has been to be abroad! Beijing is quite lovely and so terribly exotic, and I have already found the perfect present for you - though you shall have to wait until Christmas to figure out what it is, I'm afraid! You'll forgive me for not making you something this holiday season, since I won't hardly have a minute to sit down between now and Christmas on this trip (and of course I was not much less busy before I left with everything that happened last month) and the thing I've found for you is so perfectly fitting that you won't be able to think it gauche that I didn't make it by hand.

I admit, however, that I have been rather more distracted than I would like by some of the things that happened last month. Of course I told you that I had to resign my membership with Rose & Thistle (as, I believe, any self-respecting woman would have done, in my position), but I am rather nervous about the loss of it when I return. I did so enjoy the companionship it provided, particularly in the winter months when parties and social calls were so few and far between.

I've been mulling over the idea in my mind of trying to find some suitable entertainment to replace it and should like your thoughts on the subject. Ladies ought to have a place that they can go to socialize without ruining their reputations by association with such unseemly women, and I don't think that's too terribly much to ask. I should like, too, to have something a bit more active in my life - a club that does things instead of simply being a tea room with membership dues. What do you think?

Yours,

Ophelia

@'November Malfoy' @'Ursula Black'