Dear Hopeful,
I am surprised to receive such an earnest and open letter.  A young lady is not accustomed to receiving such splendid candor and warm words, unwarranted from a gentleman. 

If cooking and baking makes one an oddity then I confess myself a fellow odd-man, for I also take enjoyment in the creation of sweet things! So I shall not think you odd on that account.  Indeed creating with my hands, making something of joy for another is an act of love itself. 

Tell me, candid stranger, what would induce you to make overtures to a lady such as myself when, by your writing you seem like the type of gentleman whose attentions a lady would keenly appreciate?

Kind Regards
M.

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