Correspondance with Marafita

Sir,

As per your request I now forward to you this daft of a letter recently dictated to me by My Master, Don Miguel. He is, as will be explained, away for a time and so I am able to get this in the post for you.

A. H.

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Marafita de la Rosa
Convent of Ste. Lovelace
Al Andalus

My dear sister,

I pray this letter finds you well and satisfactorily treated. I wish I had better news to share. I has been a most annoying month. First, that insufferable O. Llewellyn bests me yet again for the Caledon Supreme Rose, and with a simple red rose no less. The bloom was not even nearly as full as that of my lovely Woolley rose. I do believe the judges cannot accept that a rose may be any other hue than their precious red. One even went so far as to comment on the black spots on one of the petals. Honestly, such spots are common to yellow roses, it is part of their character. I do not know if I have the drive to continue with this farce any longer.

Secondly, I have suffered some setbacks in my other interests. I had hoped to complete a fair acquisition by now; however, my agent has been unsuccessful in securing the requested object d' art. I am assured that further efforts will yield results, but this delay has put me in a foul mood.

Thirdly, the house supply of coffee has run low again. My man Augustus has explained that there is a matter of proper shipping.

I think I must get away for a while to do some hunting. Augustus can manage my affairs for a week or so. yes, a hunt will be just the thing to take the beastly edge off.

Fare thee well, sister. May the Builder bless you.


Miguel

From the Garden Journal of Don Miguel de la Rosa

I has been a warm summer, relatively speaking, the ladies have taken to it quite well. It is a bit early to determine which I will submit for the judging this year. Anansi, of course, is her usual delicate white, with a thin line of deep purple at the edges of the petals. The Beaumont has bloomed in an exquisite lavendar color this year, a little paler than last year, but even throughout. The Woolley has produced a singular bloom, red at the hips quickly fading through orange to yellow at the edges. It is exotic, but the judges tend to favor more classic, solid coloring. Speaking of exotic, there is of course the Gray lady, she has a nearly pure black bloom this year with just a bit of blood red striation. Truly gorgeous all of them. It will be so hard to decide, but I think this year that insufferable Omicron Llewellyn will finally meet his match.