[5 Clement Circle, Cambridge, Mass.]
I have not written for nearly a week, and it will be quite a week before you receive this, as the next boat is on the 8th. Your last letter was that of the 23d June, when you were just going to Cambridge: I expect that by the time this arrives you will be in Cataumet, but it seems safer to send it to Cambridge, like the ones that went to that address before you got there.
Perhaps I am glad that I did not know what your feelings were during that evening in the cathedral close a year ago, which I shall never forget.
Itravels, trips and plansTSE's 1936 American trip;c4efforts to coordinate with EH;a8 am very impatient to learn whether you have been able to make any arrangements for us at the beginning of September. Youtravels, trips and plansTSE's 1936 American trip;c4TSE's itinerary;b1 remember that I sail for Montreal on the 22nd August, and am booked to return from the same port on the 2nd October. Ada and Sheff will probably [be] at Cousin Emily Hayward’s (Peterborough, New Hampshire, I believe) when I arrive, so I shall be at a loose end, and if you make no arrangements, must stay at a hotel. WeAmericaRandolph, New Hampshire;g9the Eliot siblings return to;a2 return from Randolph, as I have said, on the 15th – and I am ready for any arrangements you might make after that date, if not before! AsSmith College;a9 for whether, and when and how, I come to Smith, I leave that entirely in your hands, my dear – you must also calculate cooly [sic] whether I am likely to be an asset or a liability to you there – but I am prepared to do anything except give a lecture, as I shall have none prepared, and this is to be a holiday. I can do anything or go anywhere before the 7th and after the 15th September, until I leave. The next time I come, I shall have to think about lectures to pay my way, so I shall probably come in another month; butMurder in the Cathedralpays for 1936 American trip;c4 thistravels, trips and plansTSE's 1936 American trip;c4Murder to pay for;b2 year, I mean the profits of the Murder to provide a holiday, and I don’t want to appear ‘officially’ anywhere.
SometimesHale, Emilybirthdays, presents and love-tokens;w2EH gives TSE a signet ring;c4 your ring irks a bit, in warm weather, and I glad of that, because I have never taken it off, and I love to think of it as a bond and a fetter. But perhaps I shall take it to be marked before I come: I am not sure.
IFabers, the1936 summer holiday with;c8 shall be very busy meanwhile, becausetravels, trips and plansTSE's 1936 Faber summer holiday;c3;a2 I have to spend a week at the Fabers’ in Wales from the 1st August, andCriterion, TheOctober 1936;d1to be ordered;a3 the next fortnight, before I sail, will be very full getting the September Criterion ready, andCriterion, TheJanuary 1937;d2prepared in August 1936;a1 preparing for the December number too, as I can’t leave all of that until my return. And what with American visitors, and others who become active in June and July, my time is very full. AFabers, the;c9 receptionHayward, Johnaccompanied to the Fabers' party;f1 by the Fabers on Thursday night – I went with John Hayward – we left at 12, andBowen, Elizabeth (Mrs Cameron)holds conversation with TSE into the small hours;a7 stoppedRees, Goronwy;a1 on the way back at Elizabeth Cameron’s to talk a bit with her and Geronwy [sc. Goronwy] Rees1 – then I stopped to talk with John in his room after that – so did not get to bed till nearly three. AndCheetham, Revd Erichis pageant for Mothers' Union;c2 last night I had to go to the Mothers union Pageant at the Albert Hall – designed and produced by Father Cheetham – Mary went to every performance and was most enthusiastic – Elizabeth I thought a little more critical, but she is not quite so wholeheartedly devoted to the Vicar as Mary is: ISmith, Theodora ('Dodo') Eliot (TSE's niece)1936 visit to England;b6taken to Cheetham's pageant;a4 took Dodo, and killed two birds with one stone – we had ices at the Kensington Palace Hotel afterwards. ISmith, Theodora ('Dodo') Eliot (TSE's niece)1936 visit to England;b6ballet outing;a3 have to take her to the ballet on Wednesday.
Please let me know where to address you during August, and especially where you will be as I approach America. I shall never forget, the last time, the pilot’s boat coming up to the steamer at Father Point, in the St. Lawrence, and it brought a greeting from you. I hope that there will be another one for me, at the same place, on the Alaunia about the 29th or 30th of August.
I hold out my arms to you, my darling,
1.GoronwyRees, Goronwy Rees (1909–79), Welsh writer and academic.
4.ElizabethBowen, Elizabeth (Mrs Cameron) Bowen (1899–1973) – Mrs Alan Cameron – Irish-born novelist; author of The Last September (1929), The Death of the Heart (1938), The Heat of the Day (1949). See Victoria Glendinning, Elizabeth Bowen: Portrait of a Writer (1977); Hermione Lee, Elizabeth Bowen: An Estimation (1981). TSE to Desmond Hawkins, 3 Feb. 1937: ‘She has a very definite place, and a pretty high one, amongst novelists of her kind.’
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.
11.JohnHayward, John Davy Hayward (1905–65), editor and critic: see Biographical Register.
2.TheodoraSmith, Theodora ('Dodo') Eliot (TSE's niece) Eliot Smith (1904–92) – ‘Dodo’ – daughter of George Lawrence and Charlotte E. Smith: see Biographical Register. Theodora’sSmith, Charlotte ('Chardy') Stearns (TSE's niece) sister was Charlotte Stearns Smith (b. 1911), known as ‘Chardy’.