The Washington times., 1930-01-30
LETTERS TELL
ROM lance OF
WASHINGTON
Nancy Hoyt Curtis De-
clared the Lucy" of
"Promise Not to Tell

Laugh if you will but we
found Promise Not to
Tell" the alleged love let
ters of Nancy Hoyt and the
Earl of Donegal, a bit sad.
In the first place we like
Nancy and, secondly, being
a sentimental we would have
loved seeing her the Coun-
tess of Donegal and mother
of the hypothetical twins
destined, alas, never to see
the light of life).
A certain we'll known par
agrapher is responsible for
the statement that Promise
Not to Tell" is composed of
"pash" notes exchanged by
the versatile Nancy and the
youthful British peer,
Characters
With the idea already in
mind it IS not difficult to rec
ognize the thinly disguised
characters of the book. Mar
tin. brother to the heroine, is
certainly her we'll beloved
brother in life, Morton D.
Hoyt. Helen M, whose mar
riage is described so amuSingly,
might easily be the former
Helen Marys, now Mrs. Will
liam D. Thomas. Evie is Evelyn
WadSworth, one of Nancy Hoyt'S
best friends. Caroline Thorn is
Caroline Thorn. Randy B. is
Randy Burke And so on through
a host of others until we are
"stumped" by the vixinish Leah
and the impossible Mrs. Per
kins. Or perhaps we would
rather not recognize them.
Says TIC publishers "blurb"
in describing the book:
In interesting contrast to
famous love letters of the past
this correspondence between a
modern society girl and an
English peer, with its back
ground of the present fashion
able world, reveals the color
and emotional fire. the gayety
and sophiStiCation of moderns
in love.
""The American girl angles
for the young nobleman with
superb ease and artistry: the
young lord persists in regarding
the affair as nothing more
than an indiSCretion."
Kit Is Good
Kit" otherwise Edward Ar
thur Donald St. George Ham
ilton Chichester, Marquis of
Donegal. did a bit of angling
on his own account. we think.
We added a number of choice
morselS to our romantic vo-
cabulary after reading several
of his effusions. "LoVe-puff'
rather took the prize. At least
we had never heard it before
and, frankly, it won our ap-
probation Immediately.
In the confidential chit-Chat
between Lucy" 1--WE remember
Nancy called the heroine Of
her first published story by
that name and Kit" is d
grist of amusing gossip about
the Capitals younger set. The
author takes very little trouble
in disgusting her characters.
And frequently speaks her
mind very frankly about them.
1t is safe to prophesy that
when Promise Not to Tell
reaches the bookStandS there
will be a number of promising
young Washingtonians who will
see red a very purple red in
deed. And not a few, We
should add, who will be rather
pleased and touched.
Helen in London
Helen Wardman among the
latter. then only IA, comes in
for a few kind words from
Kit" who met her in London
and was very flattering in the
things he had to say about the
little American miss.
Tallulah lTallulah Bankhead,
American actress whose sue
cess in London has chained her
to British shores and sister of
Morton Hoyt's former wife,
comes in TO" a bit of razzing
'L'Icy" quotes Jack Garter"
as having said to her:
Don't be Ritzy. Tallu. Re
member when you came up
from the baCkWoodS of Ala
bama. Take off the high hat. "
The Bankhead girls, Jean and
Tallulah, are daughters of Rep
resentatiVe Bankhead of Ala
bama.
It was interesting to note that
"NiCky' prince Nicholas of Ru-
mania had been in love with
Tallulah.
kitty" the authors sister
in law, comes IN for few sly
digs. We suspect the name
given her was one of them.
End of Story
Friends of Nancy Hoyt will
have no trouble in recognizing
that fiery and lovable young
person in the character of
Lucy" And if they, like us.
regret the unhappy ending of
her romance with Kit" they
will be relieved at the appear