Agatha Milsom to Olive Farebrother
15, Whittington Terrace, Bayswater 15.10.28
Dearest Olive,
I am so sorry I have not written for such a long time, but I have been feeling anything but fit. This household is most trying to live with, and I really feel that in my present nervous condition I am hardly fit to cope with my work here. I have been to Dr. Trevor and put the whole situation very fully and carefully before him, and he agrees that I certainly ought not to be subjected to so much emotional strain. On the other hand, I know poor Mrs. Harrison does cling to me so much for sympathy and support that it seems almost wicked not to hang on if I can possibly manage it. She has no one else to confide in at all, and I do at least feel that here I am being of real use to somebody. Dr. Trevor says that if only I can lose sight of my own difficulties in helping her with hers, it will be good for me to make the effort, provided I do not let the atmosphere of the house get on my nerves. I have started a little exercise on Coué lines. Every morning I say to myself: “I am cool, strong, confident,” twenty times, and at night I say: “I am satisfied and at peace,” also twenty times. Dr. Trevor thinks these are quite good phrases to say.
I did hope, a few days ago, that the difficulty was going to solve itself. Mrs. Harrison announced that she was going to take up office work again. The idea of it seemed to brighten her up tremendously, and I think it would be the best thing she could do. But, of course, the Bear played his old trick again. When she first announced her decision, he pretended to agree, and said she could do as she liked, so she was awfully pleased, and rang up one of the people at her old office to see if they had