To Mary Williams Winslow
Madrid, Spain. April 2, 1912
In England I visited my usual hosts, and went besides to Cambridge where I slept in a medieval dungeon, in the Clock Tower of Trinity College, being the guest of Bertie Russell: I sentimentally evoked memories of the past by walking on the towpath and watching the college Eights practice; I dined in Hall. . . . and altogether drenched myself in diluted emotions. It was terribly cold, particularly in bed.—In Paris I was only a few days, and did nothing worth mentioning, except to visit the apartment where I am to live next month, and after, with my friend Strong. It is very suitable, but I could imagining something more luxurious and Byzantine, if I put my mind to it. Possibly, if I find Strong docile, I may add a few touches of frivolity to the solemn scene.—In Avila, while continuing to suffer from the cold, I found my sister and her family as usual, and stayed nearly a fort-night; whence, I came here, to begin life with my new mate, Mercedes. We get on beautifully, I eat a lot, (having had only one colic so far) walk a lot, and have even managed to do some real work, having had one or two spells of industry and absorption over my books and papers.
From The Letters of George Santayana: Book Two, 1910-1920. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2001.
Location of manuscript: The Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge MA