4th August, 1887

My darling James,

On my life, I have no fewer than half a dozen letters to you begun, but I have been called away from writing so frequently that even as I pen this, I am not convinced I shall be able to finish. My master has kept me busy indeed this summer, but has finally accepted that I am not useless and so I have grown tremendously in my craft since last we spoke! I would point out the irony of your complaining that I have not written to you, but we remedy this now and so I feel as though the matter can be tucked aside.

As to your news, words cannot express how proud of you I am! Aside from the fact that your education is, at last, all but guaranteed, this shows tremendous trust in you from your head of house and the other faculty at the school; I am so pleased that they are able to see how strong of character you truly are.

When will you come to Diagon Alley to purchase your school supplies? I should love very much to meet you at The Leaky Cauldron for lunch if your time permits—and it is likely to, towards the end of the month, as I have been granted a bit of leave “for my health”, I’m told, but in truth I think my perky nature gives my master something of a headache and he needs a break from me!

With all my love,

— Becky —