Dear Miss Roper, It is a long time ago that I wrote you asking for suggestions for dress for my lame condition, and I described my appearance in detail with full particulars of the fact that my right leg was short - 10 inches - with a perfectly stiff knee joint an my foot equally stiff with the toes pointing to the ground.
You were good enough to suggest an outfit for me, but in your accompanying letter you stated that if my leg was short as I had told you - and I gathered that you rather doubted it - then I should be unable to walk without the aid of crutches. I use a pair of crutches, as my leg hangs useless but clear of the ground.
A contraction of the muscles of the leg from the hip to the foot produced this extreme shortness, and I know it only too well; for though I'm happy with my crippled leg, I do not forget that I am on crutches always, ever since my accident, and of course my lameness can never be improved short of an amputation.
I have been meaning to give you this explanation long ago, and to thank you for your suggestions, but I have been away for a considerable time.
Yours truly,
Miss J.