[41 Brimmer St., Boston]
I am in a more cheerful mood than when I wrote last – it is not always easy to give reasons for one’s own moods, is it – and the mood of your latest letter may always affect me even more than I know – but for heaven’s sake don’t let that remark affect your spontaneity – IHale, Emilyas actor;v8as Judith Bliss in Hay Fever;a4 somewhat shared your turn of dejection after the play was over; perhaps in a way the more depressing just because it was such a success, and the last of the season; and when one’s life is a hard one any break in it may make it all the harder. I was also depressed by the thought that my Bird would soon be at the other side of a continent as well as a sea; and perhaps even this letter will have to be forwarded, and I suppose there will be a gap in what I receive. But I am glad that the performance was an unqualified success. And I shall look forward so eagerly to your return to Boston in the autumn – unless, that is, you accept a post somewhere else.
IThorps, theEH brings to TSE's notice;a1 shall hope to see something of the Thorps1 this winter, and will in any case make a special effort to do so, for your sake. Thank you for letting me know about them; and your remark answers a question IHinkleys, the;a3 was about to ask about the Hinkleys, in view of their possible visit. I had thought it just possible that they might have inferred that you heard from me often – whereas I have been very negligent of them, on the whole; it has been my intention to write to Eleanor delayed every week. IHale, Emilyrelationship with TSE;w9confided to the Perkinses, Miss Ware and Father Underhill;b2 do not in the least mind the Perkins’sPerkinses, the;a1 or Miss WareWare, Mary Leeconfidant of EH;a3 knowing anything you care to tell them about me – on the contrary – nor anyone who has your complete confidence. IUnderhill, Revd Francis, Bishop of Bath and WellsTSE's only confidant as to EH;a6 have spoken of you to no one but Father Underhill, and that not even by name, as he does not know you; theWhibley, Charlesas friend;a1 only friend I have to whom I might have spoken is Whibley, and he is dead.
I hope the Thorps will let me know when they arrive, and if I can be of any use in helping to find lodgings, etc. I shall be very glad.
BonamyDobrée, Bonamyin thumbnail;a3 is Bonamy Dobrée – his people come from Guernsey, hence the French name. He was a cavalry officer before the war, became a Major under Allenby2 in Palestine, after the war threw up his commission and took a degree at Cambridge – thoughDobrée, Valentineinscrutable;a1 already married to a dark lady named Valentine also of a military family who tries to write novels and whom I can’t quite make out3 – then lived in the Pyrenees for two or three years, and since then has been the author of several books on Restoration Drama etc – he was, with me, a director of the defunct Phoenix society for producing old plays – he should have had quite a good time with that if the Revd. Montague Summers had not ruined its finances before we came – and now has become a small squire in Norfolk as well (enclosed photograph of his house!) HeDefoe, DanielBonamy Dobrée broadcasts on;a1 wasDryden, John15-minute BBC American broadcast on;a1 broadcasting Defoe talks after I finished Dryden. Though not intellectually profound, nor torn by the deepest emotions, Bonamy is a very charming and loveable person – he is one of the usual members of the monthly Criterion circle.
I was vexed not to have time to write on Friday after getting your dear letter – but I had a short morning and a confession (for Whitsuntide), andJoyce, Noravisits the Eliots for tea;a1 thenEliots, the T. S.give tea to Nora Joyce;a2 Mrs. Joyce came to tea with us. My mood when I write I must add, is partly affected by the amount of time I have. If, for instance, I have managed to say all I have to say at the moment, and then a day or two later find myself with unlimited time (for me, that is) I am likely to feel a little gay and frivolous and relaxed. IndeedHale, Emilyrelationship with TSE;w9TSE's chance to be frivolous;b3, for me, I could be, I feel, much more gay and frivolous with you than with anyone else; because one can be so much gayer with the person with whom [one] can be most serious, than with anyone else.
IMore, Paul Elmer;a3 had Paul More to dinner last week, and a pleasant evening. ILowther Clare, Revd William Kemp;a1 am lunching with him and Lowther Clarke, the head of the S.P.C.K. (that is not Prevention of Cruelty but the Propagation of the Gospel!)4 Well, I hope at least that my photograph will be on its way to me at the same time that you are on your way west.
Idogs'Polly' (the Eliots' Yorkshire Terrier);c6falls off roof;a1 should be more lively thiscatsthe Eliots' Persian;a1 afternoon except that the dog fell off the coal house roof while following the cat, and I had to rush it to the vet. to have two toe nails removed: a very slight accident in itself, but V. always thinks that such things are due to evil plots by servants, and it takes some time to restore peace.
So life just goes on, and on and on.
On Thurs–Friday I shall write to Seattle. I shan’t send many books there! except what you would leave behind.5
[Letters enclosed from Joseph Gordon McLeod, James Joyce, Wystan Auden, E. R. Curtius, John ??, S. E. Morison, Marguerite Caetani]
1.Margaret Thorp, née Farrand (1891–1970), contemporary and close friend of EH; noted author and biographer. WillardThorp, Willard Thorp (1899–1990) was a Professor of English at Princeton University. See Biographical Register. See further Lyndall Gordon, Hyacinth Girl, 126–8, 158–9.
2.Edmund Allenby (1861–1936), British Army field marshal, best known for defeating Ottoman forces in the Sinai and Palestine campaign in 1917–18.
3.ValentineDobrée, Valentine Dobrée (1894–1974) – née Gladys May Mabel Brooke-Pechell, daughter of Sir Augustus Brooke-Pechell, 7th Baronet – was a well-regarded artist, novelist and short story writer. In addition to Your Cuckoo Sings by Kind (Knopf, 1927), she published one further novel, The Emperor’s Tigers (F&F, 1929); a collection of stories, To Blush Unseen (1935); and a volume of verse, This Green Tide (F&F, 1965). She married Bonamy Dobrée in 1913. See further Valentine Dobrée 1894–1974 (University Gallery Leeds, 2000); and Fifty Works by Fifty British Women Artists 1900– 1950, ed. Sacha Llewellyn (2018), 85.
4.RevdLowther Clare, Revd William Kemp William Kemp Lowther Clarke DD (1879–1968) was Editorial Secretary of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1915–44. He was to be Canon Residentiary of Chichester Cathedral, 1945–65; Prebendary of Chichester from 1943. Works include New Testament Problems (1929) and Liturgy and Worship (1932).
5.Postscript added by hand.
3.Bonamy DobréeDobrée, Bonamy (1891–1974), scholar and editor: see Biographical Register.
3.ValentineDobrée, Valentine Dobrée (1894–1974) – née Gladys May Mabel Brooke-Pechell, daughter of Sir Augustus Brooke-Pechell, 7th Baronet – was a well-regarded artist, novelist and short story writer. In addition to Your Cuckoo Sings by Kind (Knopf, 1927), she published one further novel, The Emperor’s Tigers (F&F, 1929); a collection of stories, To Blush Unseen (1935); and a volume of verse, This Green Tide (F&F, 1965). She married Bonamy Dobrée in 1913. See further Valentine Dobrée 1894–1974 (University Gallery Leeds, 2000); and Fifty Works by Fifty British Women Artists 1900– 1950, ed. Sacha Llewellyn (2018), 85.
4.RevdLowther Clare, Revd William Kemp William Kemp Lowther Clarke DD (1879–1968) was Editorial Secretary of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1915–44. He was to be Canon Residentiary of Chichester Cathedral, 1945–65; Prebendary of Chichester from 1943. Works include New Testament Problems (1929) and Liturgy and Worship (1932).
4.PaulMore, Paul Elmer Elmer More (1864–1937), critic, scholar, philosopher: see Biographical Register.
1.Margaret Thorp, née Farrand (1891–1970), contemporary and close friend of EH; noted author and biographer. WillardThorp, Willard Thorp (1899–1990) was a Professor of English at Princeton University. See Biographical Register. See further Lyndall Gordon, Hyacinth Girl, 126–8, 158–9.
2.Revd Francis UnderhillUnderhill, Revd Francis, Bishop of Bath and Wells, DD (1878–1943), TSE’s spiritual counsellor: see Biographical Register.
3.MaryWare, Mary Lee Lee Ware (1858–1937), independently wealthy Bostonian, friend and landlady of EH at 41 Brimmer Street: see Biographical Register.
7.CharlesWhibley, Charles Whibley (1859–1930), journalist and author: see Biographical Register.