The girl left and soon a man from the kitchen came with Miss Bracegirdle’s cup of tea. Miss Bracegirdle thought that this was unusual: a man bringing tea to a lady’s bedroom. These things did not happen in Easingstoke. But French people were different. She thought about the man in the next room. She felt quite sorry for him now, dying so suddenly, far from home.
She got up, washed and dressed. After that, she took her pen and some paper and went down to the hotel sitting-room. Nobody in the hotel was very excited. Perhaps they did not know about the dead man. She went to the writing-table and started to write her letter:
Hotel Carlton
Bordeaux
5 September
My dear brother,
I hope you are well. I arrived here last night. The time in the train was long but quite interesting. I nearly lost my glasses but a nice man found them for me. The people here are very friendly but the food is quite different from English food. I am going to meet Annie at one o’clock. I remembered in the train that there is some fruit from Mrs Hunt’s garden in the kitchen cupboard. I forgot to tell Lizzie about it, so please tell her for me. I do not want it to go bad. This is a nice hotel but I think that Annie and I are going to move to the Grand Hotel tonight, because the rooms here are not very quite. That is all there is to tell you for now. Be careful not to get cold. I am coming back soon.
Your loving sister
Millicent.
