[240 Crescent St., Northampton, Mass.]
I find that by getting this off this morning I can catch the Berengaria – ITandy, Geoffreyaccompanies TSE to Cambridge and Wisbech;b8 have promised to go off with Tandy this weekend to Cambridge and Wisbeach [sc. Wisbech] – now that the time comes I grudge it, as I usually do, but Tandy has been looking forward to it for a long time, and he doesn’t get away much: andMorleys, theand TSE's Salzburg expedition;i7 I couldn’t get out of going to the Morleys last weekend, because I had not been there for a long time – although I shall spend a night or two there over Coronation Day – it is inconvenient that they cannot leave till the day after the Coronation, asMorley, Susanna;a9 Coronationtravels, trips and plansthe Morley–Eliot 1937 trip to Salzburg;c6;a2 Day is also Susanna’s birthday – IFaber, Geoffreyhas mumps;f6 imagine that by that time Faber will be back, though he is very miserable at the moment with his mumps, which must be exceedingly disagreeable for an adult. Itravels, trips and plansTSE's 1937 Faber summer holiday;c8;a1 think it will be wise however for me to take ten days holiday abroad in May, because I will feel freshed [sic] for the work of June and July, andFabers, the1937 summer holiday with;d8 apart from visits to Wales and (I trust) Campden I do not expect to take any real holiday this year.
The last two weeks very broken up – first by moving and having a cold, after which a cold wet weekend at Lingfield – this week by several jobs to be done in the morning, includingJanes, W. L.;b3 a visit to Janes. IFamily Reunion, TheTSE on writing;b4 hope now to get a fortnight of continuous work on Act II: I have drawn up a skeleton for it, but have not written a line – I mean from Monday next to the Coronation. ThePerkinses, thesent Lapsang Souchong on arrival in England;g1 Perkins’s arrive, I believe, on Monday.1 I shall send them a greeting – I think of Lapsang Souchong – but as they are going straight to Campden I don’t think I shall be able to see them until after I return.
I pray the last months of the term may not leave you exhausted, and that you may be well and strong – though no doubt tired – before you sail.2 Is anyone you know coming by the same boat, or at the same time? TheElsmiths, the;a3 Elsmiths had spoken, you remember, of being in England this summer. (VisitorsHotsons, the;a6 are coming – the Hotsons are already here!)
1.Monday, 26 Apr. 1937. It was to be the day on which German and Italian bombers, acting in support of Gen. Franco’s Nationalists, bombed the Basque town of Guernica.
PerkinsPerkinses, theinvite TSE to Campden;g2nPerkins, Dr John Carroll (EH's uncle)
PerkinsPerkins, Edith (EH's aunt)on the Harvard Murder;c7n remarkedMurder in the Cathedral1937 Harvard University production;f1;a3n further: ‘Emily has been with us for her Easter Vacation. She is not as strong as we could wish, but I am sure the year at Northampton has been good for her; and her spirit is good and fine. Emily and I saw the performance of your widely acceptable “Becket”. The actors were definitely amateur in the Harvard presentation. The spiritual interpretation of the archbishop and priests left much to be desired. The chorus was really grotesque. Only the knights at the end came near to worthy expression’.
2.See too Margaret Thorp to TSE, 11 May 1937: ‘I hope for a sight of Emily before she sails. I am glad she is to be in England but wish she might be detached from her family for part of the summer. I am rather worried about her health & anxious to see how she looks’ (EVE). EHHale, Emilysails for England;j3 was due to sail for England on 2 July.
11.GeoffreyFaber, Geoffrey Faber (1889–1961), publisher and poet: see Biographical Register.
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).
2.GeoffreyTandy, Geoffrey Tandy (1900–69), marine biologist; Assistant Keeper of Botany at the Natural History Museum, London, 1926–47; did broadcast readings for the BBC (including the first reading of TSE’s Practical Cats on Christmas Day 1937): see Biographical Register.