Walked down to Meneveans near Leonard St. this morning to see about the curtain brackets and to get the Franklin brasses. Had a letter from Janette Hubbard and one from Mrs. Sawyer enclosing a charming letter from Mr. Capen the President of the college, to her. I sent him my kind remembrances of his appreciation of Gertrude and it seems Mrs. Sawyer sent him my letter. His letter to her was very beautiful and full of delicate appreciation of her rare character. Gifford and his wife came in to invite me to dinner. Booth was here. Gifford thought the sky in my picture very fine and expressed himself very warmly in commendation of it as he did again this evening. This is so different from Whittredge who barely noticed it when he was in a few days ago, but then poor Whittredge is not always not always in an encouraging mood. Booth staid a couple of hours and we talked on many things. I remarked that I always esteemed it a very fortunate thing and a great blessing to have the friendship of so many noble women as I have and that I thought for young men no influence was more restraining and ennobling than companionship with women. He agreed with me and regretted that he had been deprived of it in early life. Told me of the man in Philadelphia who gave exquisite dinners, but whose friends finally could not stand his bad breath--of Charlotte Cushman talking with Clark, who has nice teeth and is very neat, but who happened to have a bad tooth, and holding her nose and making Clark mad. Mrs. Stoddard came in and we sat and talked of Gertrude for an hour. She really loved Gertrude and spoke very tenderly of her. Of her sweetness of disposition, of her dainty, pretty ways, of her pretty feet and ankles and how when she was going out to parties and wore her pretty silk stockings she used to make her pull up her skirts to show her ankles and feet. Every one was impressed with her grace and perfect taste. Mrs. Gifford spoke of how gracefully she wore all her little ornaments this evening at dinner and what a quick eye she had for what was becoming to her. Mrs. Gifford looked very pretty tonight. They were going up to Eastman Johnsons this evening as were the Booths and they begged me to go with them but I was afraid there would be a number of people there and besides they had said nothing to me about it. When I got to my rooms I found a telegram from Eastman asking me to come up, but somehow I shrank from meeting a number of people. I had a sweet letter from Sara today with many thoughts of Gertrude in it. She is in her mind constantly. I had looked for a letter from Lucy tonight and experienced a sense of disappointment at not getting one. Poor Mrs. Stoddard looked around the room today and said she could not think that Gertrude was never to be here again and she wept bitterly as she talked of her.
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