wednesday, march 22, 1944

dearest kitty,

i received this letter last night from margot:

dear anne,

after your letter of yesterday i have the unpleasant feeling that your conscience bothers you whenever you go to peter's to work or talk; there's really no reason for that. in my heart, i know there's someone who deserves t my trust (as i do his), and i wouldn't be able to tolerate peter in his place.

however, as you wrote, i do think of peter as a kind of brother. . . a younger brother; we've been sending out feelers, and a brotherly and sisterly affection mayor may not develop at some later date, but it's certainly not reached that stage yet. so there's no need for you to feel sorry for me. now that you've found companionship, enjoy it as much as you can.

in the meantime, things are getting more and more wonderful here. i think, kitty, that true love may be developing in the annex. all those jokes about marrying peter if we stayed here long enough weren't so silly after all. not that i'm thinking of marrying him, mind you. i don't even know what he'll be like when he grows up. or if we'll even love each other enough to get married.

i'm sure now that peter loves me too; i just don't know in what way. i can't figure out if he wants only a good friend, or if he's attracted to me as a girl or as a sister. when he said i always helped him when his parents were arguing, i was tremendously happy; it was one step toward making me believe in his friendship. i asked him yesterday what he'd do if there were a dozen annes who kept popping in to see him. his answer was: "if they were all like you, it wouldn't be so bad." he's extremely hospitable, and i think he really likes to see me. mean- while, he's been working hard at learning french, even studying in bed until ten-fifteen.

oh, when i think back to saturday night, to our words, our voices, i feel satisfied with myself for the very first time; what i mean is, i'd still say the same and wouldn't want to change a thing, the way i usually do. he's so handsome, whether he's smthng or just sitting still. he's so sweet and good and beautiful. i think what surprised him most about me was when he discovered that i'm not at all the superficial, worldly anne i appear to be, but a dreamer, like he is, with just as many troubles!

last night after the dinner dishes, i waited for him to ask me to stay upstairs. but nothing happened; i went away. he came downstairs to tell dussel it was time to listen to the radio and hung around the bathroom for a while, but when dussel took too long, he went back upstairs. he paced up and down his room and went to bed early.

the entire evening i was so restless i kept going to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. i read a bit, daydreamed some more, looked at the clock and waited, waited, waited, all the while listening to his foot- steps. i went to bed early, exhausted.

tonight i have to take a bath, and tomorrow?

tomorrow's so far away!

yours, anne m. frank

my answer:

dearest margot,

i think the best thing is simply to wait and see what happens. it can't be much longer before peter and i will have to decide whether to go back to the way we were or do some- thing else. i don't know how it'll turn out; i can't see any farther than the end of my nose.

but i'm certain of one thing: if peter and i do become friends, i'm going to tell him you're also very fond of him and are prepared to help him if he needs you. you wouldn't want me to, i'm sure, but i don't care; i don't know what peter thinks of you, but i'll ask him when the time comes. it's certainly nothing bad -- on the contrary! you're welcome to join us in the attic, or wherever we are. you won't be disturbing us, because we have an unspoken agreement to talk only in the evenings when it's dark.

keep your spirits up! i'm doing my best, though it's not always easy. your time may come sooner than you think.

yours, anne