[No surviving envelope]
ItWare, Mary Lee;b4 is a quarter to seven here, and you are just finishing your lunch, I suppose, whether on the boat or at Miss Ware’s. I have had plenty of time to think about you during the last two days, Saturday and Sunday, for I have been in bed with a cold. A much lighter one than when my dear Lady came to visit me, with no temperature. TheUnderhill, Revd Francis, Bishop of Bath and Wellsand wife as TSE's Rochester hosts;c6 Underhills are very kind people, but Rochester has a filthy climate, and a deanery is an impossible kind of building to heat; and though I had a comfortable enough bed with a hump in the middle I was given no hot water bottle, and I shivered and shivered. And I had had a very busy week, and was busy all day Friday, endingCheetham, Revd Eric;b8 with having Cheetham to dinner (he spoke most appreciatively of you, and found that you had an unusual personality). I think it was mostly that I was very very tired, physically, and perhaps exhausted emotionally, and needed a rest: I have slept a great deal of the time. So now I do beg and hope that you will be able to take things a little quietly at first, trying to relax, and at least feel for the moment free of responsibility now that you are in different surroundings. IWare, Mary Leeantipathetic to TSE;b6 hope that Miss Ware will be nice to you, and leave you alone too.1 I worry about my girl being so thin, and not having good warm clothes for the unaccustomed Boston winter (I have decided to stop trying to wear silk underwear all the winter, it is too clammy; I have gone into cotton ones – I clung to silk because they don’t irritate my skin. I wish you would let me know frankly how you get on with Miss Ware. I didn’t feel that I hit it off with her at all, but perhaps it is simply that she dislikes the English.
Now that I have to think of you actually in Boston, I begin to feel that I must put more or less news into letters; though news no longer seems of any interest when I write to you, and I want to make my letters a make-believe of being together. I am always thankful for all the days we had together, days of increasing significance and nearness together, wherever and however they were spent: thetravels, trips and plansEH's 1934–5 year in Europe;b4TSE and EH's final weeks in London;f3 best were the last – GreenwichEnglandLondon;h1so too Greenwich;c9 and then the Exhibition and the City, andEnglandLondon;h1its fogs;a5 DulwichEnglandLondon;h1Dulwich hallowed in memory;c8 for which I shall always have an especial affection because it wrapped us up in fog; andtravels, trips and plansEH's 1934–5 year in Europe;b4their excursion to Finchampstead;f4 finallyEnglandFinchampstead, Berkshire;f1specifically the Queen's Head;a2 Finchampstead the most intimate of all. But even Finchampstead had its moments of light relief, in the ‘Queen’s Head’ (no, that is not the name); and letters should do so too. I was grateful for your exact description of your fellow passengers who shared your table, and hope that you had pleasant, and no unpleasant company throughout. WellFaber and Faber (F&F)give Ivy lunch for Dukes;d2, thereFaber, Geoffreyat lavish lunch for Dukes;e2 wasMorley, Frank Vigor;e8 an expensive lunch at the Ivy for Ashley Dukes at the expense of Faber & Faber with Faber and Morley present: oysters (which I should prefer not to eat except in your company) very good ones; Pouilly followed by Romanée 1919 with tornados, [sic] coffee and brandy and cigars, very swell. It was amusing to see how Faber and Dukes got on together – Faber had expected not to, not knowing any theatrical folk, and had prepared an engagement at 2.30, but he stayed well after that. WhatFaber, Enid Eleanorsuggests Murder tickets for F&F employees;a5 Faber wanted (Enid’s idea) was to have a performance of ‘Murder’ at the end of the run, a Sunday performance with seats sent out with compliments of Faber & Faber, as an advertisement. Duke’sDukes, Ashleyhis ambitions for Murder;a6 [sicMercury Theatre, London;a9] plan is to run the play until Shrove Tuesday at the Mercury (making 100 performances) and then have a few performances at some larger place to end off with – one of which Faber & Faber can take. Then they fell to discussing Duke’s large ideas for building a larger theatre and forming a larger company; and in these regions of high finance Geoffrey was very happy. DukesMurder in the Cathedralabortive 1936 New York transfer;e1Dukes visits America to arrange;a1 sails for New York about the fifteenth of January, to be there about a week or ten days, during which he hopes to arrange for a run of the London company at some theatre there. It seems so unlikely to me; but then the present run would have seemed to me fantastic – therefore it is not unimaginable. It would be fun to have it start in New York early in the spring! I think that having the original company do it would perhaps make all the difference between success and failure: it would be so difficult to get a good chorus there, andSpeaight, Robertunimprovable as Becket;b3 I don’t believe Speaight could be bettered. Sotravels, trips and plansTSE's 1936 American trip;c4spring arrival dependent on New York Murder;a2 as I said, I might come in the spring, and you would have to come to New York for the first night (unlessNoyes, Penelope Barker;c9 Penelope’s mysterious occupation prevents). Dukes asked for your address, thinking that you would be a useful person to consult in connexion with it; I have promised to send it to him; but he was assuming that you would be in New York, and he is hardly likely to get to Boston.
TheMorleys, the;f5 Morleys (both of them) leave for New York on the 19th or 20th. They will come to Boston; but, as the last time he was over, he may only have time for one night there, to interview the local publishers. He expressed doubt whether, if he was so rushed as that, he would have time to see both you and Ada, so I said I would ask Ada to ask you to come there when they came, if there was not time for them to see both of you separately. They will have to go to Baltimore, of course, to see his parents; so their time will be very full. He has your address; and except when in America will make himself responsible for letting you know, by letter or cable as the occasion requires, of any mishap to me, and keeping you in touch – he will also of course answer enquiries or do anything you want done. He seemed to be indicated as the obvious person: both because of his trustworthiness in every respect, and because of being in as good a position to know about me as anyone.
OfJanes, Adaher funeral;a2 Mrs. Janes’s funeral (IJanes, W. L.his Christmas dinners with TSE;a3 have to dine with Janes and her sister Mrs. Webster on Christmas), ofTandys, theTSE's Hampton weekends with;a1 my weekend at the Tandys’, ofHuxleys, the;a7 dinner at the Huxleys’ (GeraldHeard, Gerald;a2 HeardHuxley, Julianat Aldous's for supper;a3 and Aldous’s younger brother2 present), dinnerMonro, Alida (née Klementaski);b9 at Alida Monro’s (Ethel ColburnCharlton, Air Commodore Lionelat Alida Monro's;a3 MayneMayne, Ethel Colburnat Alida's for dinner;a1 and Air-Commodore Charlton) there is no need to say much. I am going to stop now before my dinner comes up, and then re-read your letters, and then begin again.
OneGalitzi, Dr Christine;c4 bit to surprise you with, first: I wrote to Miss Galitzi several days ago. IEyre, Mary B.;b5 shall get round to Miss Eyre before long! But Penelope comes first, and my family.
Your last letter (December 14th, Saturday, about 3 p.m.) was almost a surprise; because you said you would post from Belfast, and the previous one was posted Belfast: so I feared that you would have no further chance. This one is posted ‘Paquebot … something’; andPerkins, Edith (EH's aunt);c1 a charming note from Mrs. Perkins accompanied it. Iflowers and floralilies-of-the-valley;c1delivered to EH on the Samaria;a1 did not know that lilies-of-the-valley had such an association for you – if I had known, I should probably not have dared to choose them – but as it is, I am very happy to have done so. (So you are only beginning to use the Roget & Gallet! butflowers and floraviolets;d1;a5 I don’t want you to smell of violets for me, remember, only of yourself, which is sweeter). And why should you have such a dream as that – but it only expressed the pain of separation – and I will kiss it away when next we are together. I am glad you had a cabin to yourself – you did say that you probably would, and as I re-read your words it is difficult to believe that that part of our long journey is over, and that you are no longer at sea but in Boston. I wait impatiently to hear of Penelope’s idea – I am glad you got the letter from the Scripps girl – it is nice to learn of another of your devoted admirers there – andHale, Emilybirthdays, presents and love-tokens;w2EH bought blue-gray scarf;c5 I hope the blue-grey scarf will be of some use in Boston also, to remind you of Dulwich. ArchieMacdonell, Archibald Gordon;a1 Macdonnell is an acquaintance of Morley’s, I don’t think I have ever met him.3 TheOld Possum’s Book of Practical Catsas advertised by GCF;b1 advertisement of the Pollicle Dogs was written by Faber.4
Now I have re-read all the other letters of that set – beginning with the one you wrote to Pike’s Farm – I shall keep them particularly together: and I feel full of thankfulness and gratitude. It is a hideous change to be separated from you, certainly; but I console myself somewhat by thinking that this is not a great and final change like the immense change that has come over us together, and which means that whatever happens, we are inseparably bound together for the rest of our lives. And it does not seem to me wrong to pray that we may be united in place as well as in spirit, and I feel that this must some day happen. When I lie down in bed, I picture you leaning over me, and stroking me with your cool hands as you did when I was ill; but when I turn out the light and settle, I imagine myself with one arm over you holding you closely, a precious rare soul in the most beautiful body. And now I stoop down and kiss your foot.
I mean never to take your ring off until I see you next – and not then, unless you kiss it & put it on my finger again.
1.SeeWare, Mary LeeTSE moderates his opinion of;b5n too TSE to Susan (Stearns) Hinkley, 7 June 1935 (Letters 7, 655–7): ‘I have somewhat revised my opinion of Miss Ware. Not absolutely but relatively. My present impression is that she does Emily no harm, and occasionally may be sensibly helpful … Miss Ware seems to me relatively a suitable person.’
2.The biologist Julian Huxley.
3.ArchibaldMacdonell, Archibald Gordon Gordon Macdonell (1895–1941), Scottish writer, journalist and broadcaster; author of England, Their England (1933) and Napoleon and His Marshals (1934).
4.TheFaber, Geoffreyadvertises 'Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle Cats';e1n F&F catalogue ‘Spring Books Announcements, 1936’ (p. 69) carried this notice:
Mr Eliot’s book of
Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle Cats
As Recited to Him by the Man in White Spats
Mr Eliot informs the Publishers that his book of Children’s Verses should be completed by Easter, 1936. If this statement (for which the Publishers accept no responsibility) proves to be true, the book will certainly be published this year with the least possible delay.
There is no doubt that Mr Eliot is writing it; for several of the poems, illustrated by the author, have been in private circulation in the Publishers’ various families for a considerable time, and at least one of them has been recorded on the gramophone. (N.B. – There is only one record in this country, and there is believed to be another in America. Applications for duplicates will be thrown into the waste-paper basket.)
Mr Eliot intends to illustrate the book himself; but it is not yet possible to be sure that reproduction of the illustrations will be within the scope of any existing process. No announcement can, therefore, be made about the price of this book, but every endeavour will be made to keep it within reason.
2.AirCharlton, Air Commodore Lionel Commodore Lionel Charlton, CB, CMG, DSO (1879–1958), military officer during the Boer War and WW1, rising to be brigadier general. In Feb. 1923, while serving as Chief Staff Officer for the RAF’s Iraq Command, he resigned in protest against the policy of bombing Iraqi villages with a view to quelling possible unrest. Later, children’s author and autobiographer. His reminiscences were published by F&F in 1931.
4.RevdCheetham, Revd Eric Eric Cheetham (1892–1957): vicar of St Stephen’s Church, Gloucester Road, London, 1929–56 – ‘a fine ecclesiastical showman’, as E. W. F. Tomlin dubbed him. TSE’s landlord and friend at presbytery-houses in S. Kensington, 1934–9. See Letters 7, 34–8.
4.AshleyDukes, Ashley Dukes (1885–1959), theatre manager, playwright, critic, translator, adapter, author; from 1933, owner of the Mercury Theatre, London: see Biographical Register.
3.MaryEyre, Mary B. B. Eyre, Professor of Psychology, lived in a pretty frame house on College Avenue, Claremont, where TSE stayed during his visit to EH at Scripps College.
1.TSE was mistaken here. EnidFaber, Enid Eleanor Eleanor Faber (1901–95) was the daughter of Sir Henry Erle Richards (1861–1922), Fellow of All Souls College and Chichele Professor of International Law and Diplomacy at Oxford University, and Mary Isabel Butler (1868–1945).
11.GeoffreyFaber, Geoffrey Faber (1889–1961), publisher and poet: see Biographical Register.
1.DrGalitzi, Dr Christine Christine Galitzi (b. 1899), Assistant Professor of French and Sociology, Scripps College. Born in Greece and educated in Romania, and at the Sorbonne and Columbia University, New York, she was author of Romanians in the USA: A Study of Assimilation among the Romanians in the USA (New York, 1968), as well as authoritative articles in the journal Sociologie româneascu. In 1938–9 she was to be secretary of the committee for the 14th International Congress of Sociology due to be held in Bucharest. Her husband (date of marriage unknown) was to be a Romanian military officer named Constantin Bratescu (1892–1971).
2.GeraldHeard, Gerald Heard (1889–1971), historian, science writer, educator and philosopher.
4.W. L. JanesJanes, W. L. (1854–1939), ex-policeman who worked as handyman for the Eliots. Having been superannuated from the police force early in the century, he worked for a period (until about 1921) as a plain-clothes detective in the General Post Office. TSE reminisced to Mary Trevelyan on 2 Apr. 1951: ‘If I ever write my reminiscences, which I shan’t, Janes would have a great part in them’ (‘The Pope of Russell Square’). TSE to Adam Roberts (b. 1940; godson of TSE), 12 Dec. 1955: ‘I … knew a retired police officer, who at one period had to snoop in plain clothes in the General Post Office in Newgate Street – he caught several culprits, he said’ (Adam Roberts). HisJanes, Ada wife was Ada Janes (d. 1935).
4.W. L. JanesJanes, W. L. (1854–1939), ex-policeman who worked as handyman for the Eliots. Having been superannuated from the police force early in the century, he worked for a period (until about 1921) as a plain-clothes detective in the General Post Office. TSE reminisced to Mary Trevelyan on 2 Apr. 1951: ‘If I ever write my reminiscences, which I shan’t, Janes would have a great part in them’ (‘The Pope of Russell Square’). TSE to Adam Roberts (b. 1940; godson of TSE), 12 Dec. 1955: ‘I … knew a retired police officer, who at one period had to snoop in plain clothes in the General Post Office in Newgate Street – he caught several culprits, he said’ (Adam Roberts). HisJanes, Ada wife was Ada Janes (d. 1935).
3.ArchibaldMacdonell, Archibald Gordon Gordon Macdonell (1895–1941), Scottish writer, journalist and broadcaster; author of England, Their England (1933) and Napoleon and His Marshals (1934).
3.EthelMayne, Ethel Colburn Colburn Mayne (1865–1941), Irish novelist, biographer, critic and translator.
3.AlidaMonro, Alida (née Klementaski) Klementaski (1892–1969) married Harold Monro on 27 Mar. 1920: see Alida Monro in Biographical Register.
4.FrankMorley, Frank Vigor Vigor Morley (1899–1980), American publisher and author; a founding editor of F&F, 1929–39: see Biographical Register.
12.PenelopeNoyes, Penelope Barker Barker Noyes (1891–1977), who was descended from settlers of the Plymouth Colony, lived in a historic colonial house (built in 1894 for her father James Atkins Noyes) at 1 Highland Street, Cambridge, MA. Unitarian. She was a close friend of EH.
2.RobertSpeaight, Robert Speaight (1904–77), actor, producer and author, was to create the role of Becket in Murder in the Cathedral in 1935: see Biographical Register.