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22 Feb 60 Peter Hong Kong Mother 5. Hyde Park Place West ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Hong Kong 22 Feby 1860

My dear Mother

I am as busy as ever. Scarcely a moment for myself but I avail myself of an early opportunity to scribble you a few lines.

First then, I must thank you for the case which I have at last received & for all its acceptable contents.

Every thing was capital – the books especially & little Helen’s present, also her portrait & my Father’s in his ‘côté de mer’ rig – looking quite sentimental. I am set up in shaving brushes until doomsday, especially as I have just commenced to leave off that operation & hairbrushes enough to last for many a long year. Those which I brought out with me from England being in good repute still.

You didn’t say whether you marked the handkerchiefs yourself. I suppose you didn’t, however I value them just as much. I don’t think I like the PGL in the stationery quite as well as the crest, but it looks very well & is at any rate a change.

It was a great shame detaining the case as they did upon the road, but the P&O Coy don’t hold themselves responsible for detention of packages on the road, nor for anything at all I believe. I only wonder, having such a monopoly as they have, that they ever deliver packages at all. It would be so much more convenient to sack them altogether.

The vases & candlesticks which ‘did please me mightily’ I am sorry to say, were all broken & so badly so that I quite despaired of getting them mended, but the Chinese are very clever at these things & have put them all together again with only one small hole about the size of a pea.

I began this on the 22nd but I am continuing it on the 26th Sunday, & as soon as I have finished must go into the office where I have been for the last few days, night & morning & where I shall be for the next two, so that you may imagine under what disadvantages I labour in writing to you.

We expect that Mr Jardine will leave about the end of April. If so, perhaps this sort of thing will stop, otherwise it will be quite impossible to go on in this way. There is an old proverb which says ‘All work & no play makes Jack a dull boy’. I wonder in addition what no exercise would make him, to say nothing of a tropical climate.

I promised in my letter to my Father that I would tell you all about the Races in my next. I am afraid however I have not time to dilate at any length. You will see an account in the paper (a portion of which, viz. the result & skit at foot, was supplied by me), but not any of the long reading. My two ponies were entered as you will see under the name of Mr Maxwelton but did not come off successful. Our stable (Jardines) lost nearly everything & as we are all expected to back the stable in our betting – for everybody is expected to bet here – it might be anticipated that I dropped a good deal of money. I am happy to say however that I managed, by a little luck in the sweepstakes, to come out about $150 to the good, which is rather better than one of my companions who has only lost about $1,000 having however only staked the amount of his winnings last year.

The ‘pretty & accomplished’ Miss Adams presented the Ladies’ Purse & made the appropriate speech. What do you say to my getting married. Every body insists upon marrying me. I have even been congratulated upon the happy step which, it was presumed, I had taken. Not in joke, but seriously by a gentleman of a sedate turn of mind & who being himself married, knew all about it. I assured him he had anticipated me but he said the thing was spoken of every where as all settled. What am I to do?

There is one other little matter which I must mention. It is that in consequence of Mary having recommenced to write to me & stating that Mr Riley has ‘forgiven’! me & that she hopes with the new year all ‘unpleasantness & bad feeling’ may be ‘wiped away’, I have been compelled to write & tell her that there never was any bad feeling on my part – the bad feeling was all on theirs, but that as for any new year or any thing else wiping away any insults of as atrocious a nature of those of Riley’s I most emphatically decline anything of the sort. I have told her that I consider his conduct throughout is marked by bad taste & want of all proper feeling. There is only one step which can ‘wipe away the unpleasantness’ & that he has not had the good sense nor the gentlemanly behaviour to adopt.

I distinctly wish you to understand that I have no ‘bad feeling’ in the matter & that in all cases connected with myself, you will treat Mary just the same as ever as if nothing had occurred. Mary has shown a little weakness in the matter, but that I think is all. But Riley’s conduct is abominable. Henceforth I cease all communication with them – unless, that is, Riley on reconsideration should think fit to adopt the course which he has so long neglected to do.

Give little Helen her usual kiss. Her portrait is capital & I like it very much. She is frowning dreadfully & certainly must have adopted crinoline. Her face has not changed a bit.

Your affect. Son

Peter G. Laurie

Please tell my Father that I found his lost letter at the top of the box & many thanks. I must write to him next mail.

I hope it will be a warning to him never to put a letter into a box again. He might almost as well send it in a ship round the Cape.

PGL