ButbeforeIbegintodescribeVissarionIshallthrowasoptoyouasachatelaine；thatmaygiveyoupatiencetoreadtherest。TheCastleneedsalotofthingstomakeitcomfortable——asyouwouldconsiderit。Infact，itisabsolutelydestituteofeverythingofadomesticnature。UncleRogerhaditvettedonthedefenceside，andsofaritcouldstandasiege。Butitcouldn’tcookadinnerorgothroughaspring—cleaning！Asyouknow，Iamnotmuchupindomesticmatters，andsoIcannotgiveyoudetails；butyoumaytakeitthatitwantseverything。Idon’tmeanfurniture，orsilver，orevengold—plate，orworksofart，foritisfullofthemostmagnificentoldthingsthatyoucanimagine。IthinkUncleRogermusthavebeenacollector，andgatheredalotofgoodthingsinallsortsofplaces，storedthemforyears，andthensentthemhere。Butastoglass，china，delft，allsortsofcrockery，linen，householdappliancesandmachinery，cookingutensils——exceptofthesimplest——
therearenone。Idon’tthinkUncleRogercouldhavelivedheremorethanonatemporarypicnic。SofarasIonlyamconcerned，Iamallright；agridironandasaucepanareall_I_want——andIcanusethemmyself。But，dearAuntJanet，Idon’twantyoutopigit。Iwouldlikeyoutohaveeverythingyoucanimagine，andalloftheverybest。Costdoesn’tcountnowforus，thankstoUncleRoger；andsoI
wantyoutoorderall。Iknowyou，dear——beingawoman——won’tobjecttoshopping。Butitwillhavetobewholesale。Thisisanenormousplace，andwillswallowupallyoucanbuy——likeaquicksand。Doasyoulikeaboutchoosing，butgetallthehelpyoucan。Don’tbeafraidofgettingtoomuch。Youcan’t，orofbeingidlewhenyouarehere。Iassureyouthatwhenyoucometherewillbesomuchtodoandsomanythingstothinkofthatyouwillwanttogetawayfromitall。And，besides，AuntJanet，Ihopeyouwon’tbetoolong。
Indeed，Idon’twishtobeselfish，butyourboyislonely，andwantsyou。AndwhenyougethereyouwillbeanEMPRESS。Idon’taltogetherlikedoingso，lestIshouldoffendamillionairesslikeyou；butitmayfacilitatematters，andtheway’sofcommercearestrict，thoughdevious。SoIsendyouachequefor1，000poundsforthelittlethings：andalettertothebanktohonouryourownchequesforanyamountIhavegot。
Ithink，bytheway，Ishould，ifIwereyou，takeorsendoutafewservants——nottoomanyatfirst，onlyjustenoughtoattendonourtwoselves。Youcanarrangetosendforanymoreyoumaywantlater。