Dear mother,

I was so glad to receive your letter today. And, of course, to read that grandmamma has fared another crisis and is on the mend. There was hope, after all. It is, by all means, your responsibility to care for her, and I know you do it not out of duty but out of love; in the same way, I will take care of you should anything happen in the future. But I do not want you to be exhausted every day there. Perhaps it would be good to have a day at the beach, maybe on your own or with your cousins, just to rest a little bit.

As for me, life continues in its own rhythm. Ms. Keyes visited us again today. I find her company dull. This time I convinced her to play chess with me. Alas, she does not know how to play the game. I tried to teach her, only to fail abysmally. She seems to believe you get to choose which pawn to be, and she always chooses the Queen with no regard for the other pawns. God help me! I have tried explaining why that is wrong and that you need a strategy to win the game, but she just laughs. Anyway, I shall not try again. She may ruin the game for me, and I do not want that. You understand why.

I am trying to convince Father to let me come to the club with him, so I can find some suitable chess players, but he denies it vehemently. He insists it is only for men. I wish it weren’t so. I am sure you will be able to persuade him on the matter once you return to us, dear mama.

Give my best wishes to everyone there,

With love,

Little bear.