Handwritten letter from Edith Abell in Milan to Gertrude "Gertie" Starkey Pitcairn. Letter in delicate condition. Edith thanks Gertrude for her letter and the photograph of herself. She thinks Gertrude looks a trifle sad and reproachful in the picture, and she wonders if the “photographing man” messed with her hair to get her head straight. She thanks Gertrude for the report about her family and the Barretts. Edith hasn’t written to the Barretts yet herself due to her pile of unanswered letters, and so she asks Gertrude to send them her love. She writes that “Pauline’s little cross” hangs in her window and is a source of curiosity and admiration for the Milanese people who stop by. She wonders whether Gerturde’s family is moving down to Washington to be with their father- if so, she is very happy for them all, particularly Gertrude’s mother. She sends love to Gertrude’s mother and asks whether she remembers their “hasty and delightful tea drinking of a year back.” She describes the apartment they rent in a house on the edge of town- two beautiful rooms, a kitchen, and the “loveliest garden you can imagine” full of grapes and lettuce, arbors with tables and chairs, and little monuments overgrown with ivy. The owner of the house is a ballerina who is constantly dancing and whose apartments have been furnished as if for a princess by the Emperor of Austria. Edith has been studying hard and has received a few offers to sing, but so far either the theaters have been “shaky”, or the parts have not been unsuitable. Sometimes they go out to see the comedies, and they wish American actors had the natural beauty and grace of the actors in Italy. Edith’s mother attends Church of England services to keep up the respectability of the family, but the clergyman is old and can’t preach an audible sermon, so Edith stays home and reads Swedenborg instead. They don’t have many friends and Edith is sometimes homesick, but she is grateful to be there, and she cheers herself up by admiring the artistic beauties of Milan. There are many well-known opera singers there, including Campanini, Albain Stolz, and Manrel. She wishes she could see Gertude and give her a warm welcome to the city, though she also hopes Gertude will stay far away from the “perilous tempestuous shores” of the Art world. She prays nothing will take Gertrude away from home except for “a good honest strong arm which will only place you in another [home] as safe and happy.” Edith and her mother send their love to Gertude’s family, and Edith hopes Gertude will write when she can. Names mentioned: Barretts, Pauline (Starkey Wells), Swedenborg, Campanini, Albain Stolz, Manrel, Lilly (Tilly? Billy?) Places mentioned: Washington, Austria, Egypt, the Galleria