[22 Paradise Rd., Northampton, Mass.]
This is the first – and the last opportunity to answer your letter of the 7th. Theretravels, trips and plansTSE's 1938 trip to Lisbon;c9travel arrangements;a5 were no boats sailing at about Easter, and the Queen Mary tomorrow is the last good boat before I sail on the Andalucia Star on Saturday. It now seems likely however that I shall get back sooner than I expected, as the Foreign Office now report that there is a French boat leaving Lisbon on the 6th for Bordeaux, and by going that way through Paris I can save a week. It would be agreeable to stay longer but for two things: IFamily Reunion, The;e1 want to get back to get the revisions made to The Family Reunion, and I don’t want to stay as the guest of the Government longer than they really want me. Andde Lacretelle, Jacques;a1 I dare say Jacques de Lacretelle (who is the French member)1 and perhaps others will be returning by the ‘Formosa’ on May 6th to Bordeaux. It’sFrancethe South;b9Bordeaux;a3 twenty-eight years, nearly, since I have been in Bordeaux: I remember that there are good restaurants, and a good square designed by the man who did the Place de la Concorde.
ItAmericaits horrors;c2'Easter holidays' not including Easter;b5 was stupid of me to persist in assuming that your Easter holiday would include Easter; and I might have remembered that American academic holidays are quite independent of religious feasts. I had been thinking of you having a really nice long vacation. AndHale, Emilyhealth, physical and mental;w6has shingles;b7 on top of that to hear that you have Shingles! IHarvard UniversityTSE's student days at;a2 know something about that malady, because I had it two springs running while I was in the Graduate School at Harvard – only I had it in the usual place, half round the waist, or just above the waist. On the neck must be at least as painful, and a good deal more embarrassing. I thought that the ailment, although rather obscure being nervous, was caused by being run down in health, so I am glad that your doctor thinks that you are in fairly good condition. Well, I don’t want to make too much of it, especially as there is nothing I can do about it; but I shall be very much relieved when I hear that you are completely cured, and the temporary disfigurement cleared up.
Apparently there is no particular risk of typhoid in Portugal, but one is told to drink only bottled waters. And as the Embassy have been asked to keep an eye on me, and the Portuguese are evidently laying themselves out for this occasion, I think you can be sure I shall be well looked after.
Holy Week was very satisfactory, and the offices beautifully done as usual; andSt. Stephen's Church, Gloucester Roadchurchwarding at;a5 although the incidental labour of a churchwarden was tiring, it gave me satisfaction of feeling useful. But I wish that I could have shared the week with you.
IPerkinses, theanticipate 1938 English summer;h4 gather that Dr. and Mrs. Perkins intend to come to England in any case, whether they secure Campden or not. I can understand the importance of having a really dependable servant – and I know your aunt’s standards are the very highest – so I wait with much curiosity and anxious interest. And it seems that I shall probably see you in a little over two months.
And on my return I want to know that you have completely recovered from your shingles.
1.Jacquesde Lacretelle, Jacques de Lacretelle (1888–1985), novelist; elected to the Académie Française in Nov. 1936.
1.Jacquesde Lacretelle, Jacques de Lacretelle (1888–1985), novelist; elected to the Académie Française in Nov. 1936.