Another singularly uneventful day. I had another charming letter from Reed in answer to mine and sending me incidentally a list of tannings of his last term which he had forgotten to enter in the ledger and also some good advice. I told him when I wrote that since his influence had been removed I had blossomed out into ‘Butterfly collars’ but that I should never have dared before. He expresses himself as much horrified at my degeneracy! I told J.S. [John Sergeant] this morning about Smurthwaite being the Grandson of Sir. G Sterling (O.W.) he seemed as pleased as I am and remarked ‘They are gradually coming back’…
At tea Hobson who was sporting maintained we were an egg short and we all peered anxiously under our own eggs and bacon in search of the missing one, eventually it was discovered to be in a mangled condition or rather bits of it on all our plates!…
I am slightly disgusted tonight, by Hobson telling me the Hallites were making a great deal of noise at about 7 when I was in our part of the house, it is not easy to know what to do in a vague case like this, in the ‘simple forties’ one would have sent in and told them to draw lots who should come in and be tanned’ but this simple method is I fear no longer applicable. I suppose I shall again speak to Hodgson about it. I suppose it is Whitmore, Collier and co, the sooner I have something to ‘sit upon them’ heavily for, the better it will be. I do not think that reasons will be over difficult to find…