23 January

Uncle Jack still gone, but I managed to slip away from *dear* Miss Prism and get down to the barn. *No Peter again!* Luckily, I took along a really *marvellous* (sp?) novel! I read all day and felt those strange sensations again, even though Peter wasn't there. I *loved* the book. It ended so very tragically, with the dear heroine being thrown from her stallion and lingering for several days, unable to see her lover—just like me! Oh, if only Mudie's ghastly 3-volume dealies were like this! Mudie really could learn a thing or two about novel writing.