Don't  be  discouraged  because  public  men  like  Asquith
talk  of  the  war  lasting  two  years  more  — •  all  that  is  said
to  make  Germany  understand  that  the  Allies  are  ready
to  fight  on  and  so  to  make  her  collapse  the  sooner.  The
more  she  thinks  the  Allies  are  ready  for  a  twenty  years'


John  Ayscough's  Letters  to  his  Mother       369

War  if  necessary  the  less  heart  will  she  have  to  go  on:
for  she  knows  she  cannot  face  a  long  war.  Her  men  are
nearly  used  up  and  her  money  is  all  gone.
I  must  stop  now.  God  bless  you,  dearest  darling,
to-day  and  all  days,  and  send  you  three  hundred  and
sixty-six  happy  days  in  1916.
Ever,  with  best  love  to  Christie.
Hotel  Edouard  VII,  Paris
Christmas  Day  Evening,  6.20  p.m.
...  I  AM  giving  F.  dinner  here  to-night,  and  he  has
not  yet  turned  up,  so  I  am  beginning  a  letter  to  you,
though  I  daresay  I  shall  not  get  very  far  with  it.
I  wrote  you  a  scrubby  letter  just  before  leaving  Ver-
sailles this  morning,  and  then  was  off  to  catch  the  train.
