Letter to Mr Andrew Langton from Cairo dated 20 February 1927

Dear Langers,

How are you old chum. How's the old homestead? How's that wonderful girl of yours? Wish I could find one as sporting as her. There aren't many women who would follow a chap round the world and settle down with him in the middle of the African jungle. Of course having a large ranch, pots of money and a domestic entourage that the Prince of Wales would be proud of must have eased the upheaval I shouldn't wonder.

Still, I'm now settled down myself in my new caper. Papa has been more than extraordinarily generous with my allowance in the hope that I will get my head down and end my studies with some sort of degree or doctorate thingy. I've found a nice shack to bed down in. I say shack, it's actually more like living quarters with a small warehouse. Actually, I say small warehouse, it's more like a Hugh warehouse with a camp bed on the upper level; the sort of place a chap could set up a small venture and make a tidy profit into the bargain. Egyptian trinkets and souvenirs would go down a bomb in London don't you think? Don't let on to Papa though or he'll slash my allowance and that would be a real bore. He seems to be obsessed with the idea that I will just fritter my time and money away on gambling and drink rather than completing my studies. I've told him on many an occasion that you can't rush archeology and that it's not unusual for studies to take years. He said that if I wasn't careful my thesis would become an archeological artefact. Trouble is, he wants to see the fruits of my labour at the end of the summer so I have actually got to knuckle down and actually produce something. He's also in contact with my tutor which is not good news.

Anyway, I hope everything's working out for you. Why don't you both come up and visit me. It's not quite as palatial as your place but it's quite spacious so I'm sure but I can sort something out for you.

All the best,

Jack.