16 March

Uncle Jack is very mean! "On no account," he says, will he allow me to go to London at any time soon. In fact he has expressly forbidden my meeting Ernest. Ever! So I am refusing to leave my room until further notice.

Francine has spent the day with me in order to console me. I asked her whether she really had this "snake" business on very firm authority, and she says she and others have seen it on one man here. But can he be normal? Surely not. Maggie and Francine are twins! How odd, and, I must say, not quite decent. They sleep in the same bed. How nice that must be.