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to remain there for the vacations must have seemed the most appropriate provisions he could make in order to maintain a safe distance between them and his family planning to live in London.
There is no doubt that Hart had great expectations for his wards and wanted to provide them with excellent educational opportunities. This is one of the reasons for him sending them to boarding schools. "From the first I want it to be understood that they (two boys) are to be trained for the Indian Civil Service." (ibid: 192) As N. Ferguson suggests, positions in the Indian Civil Service, at that time, were very desirable and "competition for places was fierce, so fierce that selection had to be based on perhaps the toughest exams in history.” (2002: 185) “As regards Anna I want her to be sent for three years to a Protestant boarding school on the Continent where she can devote herself to music, French, and German”. (Fairbank, Bruner and Matherson 1975: 192-3) Hart did not realise that his expectations were too high until the two boys failed the qualifying examination for entering Clifton College. In general the results of the children's studies were not good at all.
However, disappointment with his wards' poor performance in their studies can't be the only reason Hart changed his mind completely later in 1879 and insisted very firmly that the three wards should not return to London. Hart knew that the Davidson couple treated the three wards well and he appreciated this. In early 1875 he wrote to Campbell "Pay Mrs. Davidson anything that is fair: err on the liberal side, please. She has evidently treated the youngsters kindly." (ibid: 206) However, in his letter to Campbell on 24 August 1879 Hart refused to consider the possibility of the wards returning to their previous London home: "I think, on the whole, anywhere rather than London, and any people rather than the Davidsons." (ibid: 300) At the end of the letter Hart stresses it again: "I repeat, I am of opinion that away from London and not with the Davidsons might be the best.” (ibid)
For the period April 1878 to March 1879 Hart was on leave, reunited with his family in Paris and then later in England. Although his pregnant wife returned to China with him when his leave finished, Hart knew that she would not remain in Beijing for long. Two years later Lady Hart left China to settle in London and the couple did not see each other again for twenty-four years until 1906. Perhaps Lady Hart had made a sensible decision to absent herself and the children