IEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother);j7 had been in two minds whether to cable to you and to Henry; but I thought that that might be making too much of it, and, however I put it, might sound alarming rather than reassuring. For it has only been a slight illness, as one might have every winter, but just enough to induce the cautious surgeon to postpone my operation until summer, so here I am back in Chelsea after ten days in hospital, being nursed for a slight bronchial cough and a temperature which never went higher than 99.6. But even a slight cold is enough to make an operation out of the question, unless it is an operation of the kind that must be done at once if at all. There is always, apparently, some possibility in such cases of pneumonia after the operation; and a surgeon naturally does not want to run that risk, for the sake of his own operation. So all that has happened is, that I have had an ordinary winter illness in a hospital instead of at home.
Even a delay of a few days (as they hoped it might be, at first) would have worried me. As you know, I have been told to be ready to come over in February if Henry’s condition deteriorated; and I should have been afraid of not being quite fit to come. Of course, if Henry’s pneumonia had happened before I had made the arrangements, I should not have dreamt of having the operation until after my next visit. So no doubt it is all for the best that I should now have to wait until perhaps July or August.
Now I am to stay at home for a couple of days, and then take it easy for a few more days, and I shall not go out in the evening for a month or so.
I will write again later in the week. At the moment I have about twenty personal letters to write, and I don’t want to overwork at first. I am glad to be back where I am well fed, for the hospital fare is meagre: friends supplemented it with bread, butter, cheese and jam. AtTransport Workers' Strike, 1946;a1 the moment, everything in London is meagre, because of the transport workers strike: but we are fortunate in having the contents of Christmas parcels from America (I had five from the States and one from Australia!).
IHale, Emilyas director ('producer');v9Richard II;b3 am glad to know that you have secured more time for your production of Richard II. IKinchin Smith, F.;a1 don’t see why Kinchin-Smith2 should mind your not doing the Trojan Women, if you write and explain to him: only if you want to keep the text, on the chance of your wanting to produce it somewhere at some time, you will ask him whether you may.
1.TSE misdated this letter ‘1946’.
2.F. KinchinKinchin Smith, F. Smith (1895–1958), classicist, taught from 1934 in the Institute of Education, University of London; from 1936, he was Hon. Secretary of the Joint Committee of the Classical and English Associations. Best known for his Teach Yourself volumes on Greek and Latin, he also produced versions of The Trojan Women of Euripides (a work that was to be offered to F&F later in 1946 – and turned down) and the Antigone of Sophocles.
3.HenryEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother) Ware Eliot (1879–1947), TSE’s older brother: see Biographical Register.
2.F. KinchinKinchin Smith, F. Smith (1895–1958), classicist, taught from 1934 in the Institute of Education, University of London; from 1936, he was Hon. Secretary of the Joint Committee of the Classical and English Associations. Best known for his Teach Yourself volumes on Greek and Latin, he also produced versions of The Trojan Women of Euripides (a work that was to be offered to F&F later in 1946 – and turned down) and the Antigone of Sophocles.