The Vermilion Box — E.V. Lucas

letters in this book, which throw some A light on social England under the war, were written between the latter part of 1914 and 1916. I have selected only the more significant ones for publication.Most of the correspondents are related to each other.Mr. Richard Haven, who writes oftenest, is today (1916) a bachelor on the brink of fifty. He has a share in a conveyancing practice in Bedford Row and lives in that little creek at Knightsbridge called Mills Buildings.Old Mrs. Haven, his mother, lives at Aylesbury, with her granddaughter, Anne Wiston, as companion. Mrs. Haven's four daughters, who are all married, are Kate, Joan, Helen, and Margaret.Kate Haven married George Wiston, a country brewer, much older than herself, who retired in 1912. Their children are Anne, born in 1890,and Olive, born in 1893. Olive became engaged to her cousin, Dick Bernal, in June 1914. The Wistons live at Chislehurst.George Wiston's sister Maude, now a widow, married a barrister named Clayton-Mills. They had a son Archibald, born in 1884, who became an artist.Mrs. Haven's second daughter, Joan, married Theodore Lastways, of Pember & Lastways, stockbrokers, who died in 1909, leaving her very comfortably off. They had one daughter, Violet, born in 1892, and one son, John, born in 1898. Mrs. Lastways lives at Lancaster Gate.Helen Haven married a soldier, now Lieut.-Col. Sir Vincent Starr, who is on the Staff. They had one son, Toby, born in 1895. Lady Starr lives near Shoreham in Kent.Margaret Haven married Digby Bernal of the Record Office. Dick, their only son, was in the regular Army when the war broke out. Nancy, their only daughter, was born in 1894. They live on Campden Hill.Digby Bernal's sister Ruth married in 1904 a young cavalry officer named Terence Derrick. They have two children, Bimbo and Teenie. Their home is at Minchinhampton.Of the other people who write or receive letters—Dr. Sutherland is an old friend of Richard Haven and is now a Unitarian minister in Brooklyn.Barclay Vaughan is another old friend of Richard Haven and is now a Professor at Edinburgh.Mrs. Park-Stanmer, the wife of a commanding officer stationed at Sandwich, was at school with Lady Starr.Miss Hermione Huntresse was at school with Nancy Bernal.Jerry Harding is the son of a Northumberland J.P. and a friend of Toby Starr