Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary and Victor Sheppard

Dear Mary & Victor,
I am so sorry that I have to make up for a lot of time lost in Manchester, also several artists engagements, so I cannot suggest a day just yet - but we must see what we can do when Victor comes back onto the map.
I heard of your visit to the Hornsteins and I am so glad you enjoyed it. I am very fond of them both.
Love to you both from Uncle Ralph¹

P.S. Your letter came on to Manchester. We have only just got back - hence delay in answering - I do hope your 'fate' has been pleasantly decided, & if its foreign parts it will be only the garden of the Hesperides of the Fortunate Isles²
Love Ursula

1. This line in the hand of VW; the remainder in the hand of UVW.
2. Mary Sheppard's husband Victor appears to have had various foreign postings, and they were in Cape Town for much of the 1950s.