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The Letters of Katherine Mansfield: Volume II

December 27, 1921

To O. Raymond Drey

My dear Drey, what a shockingly proud man you must be! I should do no more work. I should just look at him, puff out my chest and say to the passers-by, “Il est à nous.”

page 170

The butler impressed me terribly. At this height and among these mountains we scarcely dare think of butlers. My one domestic, the gentle Ernestine, who weighs about 14 stone, bounds up and down the stairs like a playful heifer and bursts into a strange, terrible singing whenever she hears a pig being killed, is civilizations away from butlers. When I come to see you I expect the second footman to take my umbrella and I shall curtsey to Anne and present a bouquet. You are very grand but not so grand as Willy. His party must have been a very powerful affair, Drey. Talk about numbered cloakroom tickets. Willy will have to have them for his wives, next time. He will be a terribly busy man in Heaven. I am sure the restitution of conjugal rights is a specialité de la maison, there.

My cat has just leapt on my bed and begun to clean his face and his two little chimneys. It's a queer thing. He started life in a humble way, like One greater than he—he was born in a stable and was just an ordinary little black and white kitten. But since he came here he has turned into a real Persian with an enormous ruff and feathers on his legs. I suppose it is the cold. The Swiss, of course, don't keep cats. They are frightened a cat might eat the old cabbage stalk they are saving up for the baby to cut its teeth on. They are a thrifty race.

By the way, I suppose you do not know the address of a first-class dentist in Paris? I have to go to Paris very soon and while I am there I want to put my head into the jaws of a really good painless modern man. Is there such an one? If you would send me a card with his name and address I would be awfully grateful. Are you wondering why I ask you? I have a feeling you know all these things. I am going as soon as my feet are on the earth again, for my teeth are falling like autumn leaves. They have very large wooden buns here for tea with nails in them and powdered glass on the top, exprès pour les anglais. I defy anyone to grind them to powder without an accident!