温斯顿丘吉尔致 妻（克莱门汀丘吉尔）

　　my dearest one，
　　alex and his aide-de-camp， who is the son oflord templemore， have left us after staying twonights. ihopealex will come back again next weekend. he certainlyenjoyed himself painting，and produced a very good picture considering it isthe first timethat he has handled a brush for sixyears. ihave now four pictures，three of themlarge，in an advanced state， andi honestly thinkthey are better than any ihave painted so far. igavealex your message and he was verypleased.
　　the painting has been a great pleasure to me，andi have really forgotten all my vexations. it isa wonderful cure， because you really cannot thinkof anything else. this is saturday， and it is a weeksince we started. we have had newspapers up tillwednesday. ihave skimmed through them， and itcertainly seems we are going to have a pretty hardtime. icannot feel the government are doing enough about demobilization， still less aboutgettingour trade on the move again. ido notknow how we are ever to pay our debts， andit isevendifficult to see how we shall pay our way.even if we were all united in a coalition， gatheringall the strength of the nation，our task might wellbe beyond our powers. however， all this seems already quite remote from me on this lovely lake，where nearlyall the days are full ofsunshine andthe weatherbright and cool.
　　much better than the newspapers was your letter， with its amusing but rather macabre account of the journey to woodford.iam longingto hear how our affairs are progressing. i do hope you are not overtaxing yourself with all the business that there is to do. we shall certainly notforget about mary's birthday；but let me know what you have done about a present.

　　considering how pleasant and delightful the days have been，i cannot say they have passed quickly. it seems quite a long time sincei arrived，although every day has been full of interest and occupation. ihave converted my enormous bathroom into a studio with makeshift easels，and there all this morning alex andi tried to putthe finishing touches on our pictures of yesterday.he has set his heart on buying a villa here on apromontory. ihave not seen it inside， but fromthe outside it looksthe most beautiful abode one can possibly imagine， andi understand that insideit is even more romantic， going back to the fifteenth century. he was a little startled when i pointed out to him that no one will be allowed tobuy a foreign property across the exchange perhapsfor many years.
　　he beggedme to stay onhere as long as i like，buti think i shall come back the 18th or 19th.iam doubtful whetheri shall stop in paris.iexpect in another ten or eleven daysi shall be verykeen to get home again. sarah has been a great joy， and gets on with everybody. she andi both drive the speed－boats. they are a wonderful wayof getting about this lake， and far safer than theawfulwindingroads aroundwhichtheitalians career with motorcars and lorries at all sorts ofspeeds and angles.
　　charles plays golfmost days. there is a verypretty link here， and he has fierce contests withhimself or against ogier. his devoted care ofme isdeeply touching.
　　you maybe amused to see the elaborate form in which your telegram， whichi rejoiced to receivetoday，was sent.

　　his dictation over， churchill continued in his own handwriting：
　　my darling i think a great deal of you＆ lastnight when i was driving the speed-boat back therecame into mymind your singing to me'in thegloaming’ years ago. what a sweet song＆tune＆howbeautifully you sang it in all its pathos. my heart thrills and i love to feel you near me in thought. ifeelso tenderlytowards you mydarling＆the more pleasant＆agreeable the scenes＆days， the morei wish you were here to share them＆ give me a kiss.
　　you seei have nearly forgotten how to writewith a pen.isn't awful my scribbles？
　　miss layton has heard from her'boy-friend’in s. africa that she is to go out there（notcanada） immediately ifpossible to marry him. soshe is very happy. yesterday the south africanofficers came from their hotel＆took her out to'water-plane’ behind their speed boat. she look edvery handsome whirling along in the water＆madethree large circles in front of the villa before shetumbled in. sarah is writing you now. the db isstarting. always your loving husband.