[No surviving envelope]
Your letter of the 20th, which gave me much pleasure, arrived this morning, and I must answer it briefly at once. I shall not expect you to write more than once a week, in your present mode of life: indeedHale, Emilyas director ('producer');v9Christmas pantomime;b5 it seems to me that you have your hands more than full, with the work both in Concord1 and Boston, your housekeeping and cooking, and also your concern for your aunt and uncle. And in the holidays I can imagine that to time [sc. find] time for writing is still more difficult. So I shall not be disturbed by a week or eight days’ interval.
AsEliot, Theresa Garrett (TSE's sister-in-law)ignorant of Henry's true condition;d7 I think I have told you, Theresa has not been informed of the seriousness of the situation, so I do not want her to suspect it in consequence of anything I say to you. MarionEliot, Marion Cushing (TSE's sister);e9 told me that Theresa did not even want her to ring up, forEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother)anxieties induced by deafness;k9 fear of disturbing Henry: I think one reason however is that she thinks that Henry will be wanting to know everything that people say to her and everything that she says to them. She was even nervous, when I was there, of having a conversation with me of any length when Henry was about, lest he might feel out of it, or wonder what we were saying about him etc. It is often characteristic of deaf people to be apprehensive of conversations that they can see but not hear.
Itravels, trips and plansTSE's 1947 summer in America;g1;a5 hopeSheffield, Alfred Dwight ('Shef' or 'Sheff')advises on urgency of TSE's trip;c5 to hear from Sheff, in a week or so, that the leuchaemia treatment has been resumed. Upon his reaction to that depend the prognostics, and consequently the doctors’ recommendation as to when I should try to come. In his last letter, Sheff seemed to think that it was likely that I should not be needed until April. If that is confirmed, I shall go ahead with my operation in January. As you know, May and June are the period when I wanted to come, hoping to see something of you after the end of your school term; and it is a considerable sacrifice to come sooner! IHavens, Pauland is eventually cancelled;b1 have had a very pleasant letter from Havens, appreciative of my solicitude not to risk inconveniencing him for an engagement of such importance to his college. The commencement address must be cancelled: he has offered me an engagement to speak at the college if I can let him know within reasonable time. But I am afraid that that would have to be some time earlier than the commencement, and that you would be unable to come.
ButHarcourt, Brace & Co.advance TSE money;a7 if I have to come precipitately in January, February or March, I shall depend upon Harcourt Brace & Co. for supplementing my seventyfive pounds, and upon the possibility of a few reading engagements at short notice. If I was there during the crisis, of course I should not want to be distracted by any public engagements at all.
YourHale, Emilyrelationship with TSE;w9as perpetual progress and revelation;c1 last two letters have made me much happier. It is so important, in personal circumstances, to be reminded from time to time that there is always, to the end, more to learn about another person. The worst difficulties are created, not by simple lack of understanding, but by being sure that we understand another person – by insisting on their conforming to our conception of them, and then, when we find that they won’t fit, feeling that they have let us down badly. And the aspects of anybody are endless.
1.EH’sHale, Emilyas teacher;w1her work at Concord Academy;d8n work at Concord Academy included the production of a Christmas pantomime, as well as a talk to a student society called ‘Current Events’ on the subject of ‘Speaking in Public’, as reported in the school magazine the Chameleon, Jan. 1946, 4: ‘Miss Hale talked to us during one Current Events period in early November. We were not distressed when she told us there would be only one pantomime, even though our groans were loud and lusty; we knew from long experience that Miss Hale would be interesting and amusing anyway. Because speech is a criterion for our whole selves and because it is a tool constantly in use, we were urged to improve our speech. Therefore, Current Events, where we do much of our public speaking, should not be a burden, but rather an opportunity. To the relief of several who plan to speak on future Thursdays, we were told that the audience is partially responsible for the success of the speaker. Miss Hale’s talk has insured a more constructive interest in Current Events, as well as a fad for repeating “lovely lilies” to improve one’s voice.’
Feb. 1947, 4: ‘Since Miss Hale’s talk on “Speaking in Public”, we have sensed a more critical audience for assembly announcements and Current Events talks. We wonder, as the student rises, whether she has organized her material beforehand and practiced saying it out loud and whether she will remember to speak clearly and slowly and stand quietly. We sincerely hope so, for Miss Hale offered us sound advice which none of us can afford to overlook.’
3.HenryEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother) Ware Eliot (1879–1947), TSE’s older brother: see Biographical Register.
1.Marian/MarionEliot, Marion Cushing (TSE's sister) Cushing Eliot (1877–1964), fourth child of Henry Ware Eliot and Charlotte Eliot: see Biographical Register.
8.AlfredSheffield, Alfred Dwight ('Shef' or 'Sheff') Dwight Sheffield (1871–1961) – ‘Shef’ or ‘Sheff’ – husband of TSE’s eldest sister, taught English at University School, Cleveland, Ohio, and was an English instructor, later Professor, of Group Work at Wellesley College. His publications include Lectures on the Harvard Classics: Confucianism (1909) and Grammar and Thinking: a study of the working conceptions in syntax (1912).