TS UCLA collection 100 box 119/13
Dear Miss Yonge,
I do think it was so kind of you to write to me with your own hand; it is an honour that I very highly value. By an accident I was prevented from signing your birthday roll, as I was to have done so at the Writer’s Club but was unavoidably prevented by a business appointment from being there soon enough. But no one would have signed it with greater pleasure and sincerity than I.
I feel very strongly about the birds, especially the ospreys.1 I convicted and converted a very fashionable lady down here the other day on that point. She said in an airy way ‘Oh, well, I always say it does no good to hear about those things and one must have a proper finish to one’s bonnet.’ I promptly told her that every woman who knew how ospreys were got would brand her as a cruel unwomanly blood thirsty wretch and I made her listen till I could see she was feeling quite sick. I dont think she will ever wear an osprey again.
Believe me with much admiration,
Ever yours,
John Strange Winter
(Henrietta E.V. Stannard)