Thursday, June 22

Dearest Ma:

Thankyou for your letter which I finally received yesterday, when the weather at last permitted us to go ashore for mail and provisions. Actually it only rained for half a day but it seemed like months. Now it is beautiful and clear and much warmer; Mary is lying down on a rock and sun bathing, andALLI was sitting out on the front porch on the last remaining piece of "rustic" furniture (I hid most of them, they are so ugly) mumbling about its being like Antibes when I last saw her.

First of all, about Hank's friends. I should have explained to you that when I first made the arrangement with Hank he asked me if it would be alright to have friends up once in a while, and I told him that it would, in fact that it is a good idea because Steve would have more company that way, and I am sure that anyone that he would have there would be quite alright. The boy that he had over the weekend, Ed Symon, was just as nice as he could be to Steve; I have met the "lady friend" who is there now, - she also taught at the Tuxedo Park School and as I remember her she is gray-haired and well on in years, and quite a lot of fun, I think Steve would like her. However, as you say, it may not be that he doesn't like his having guests we can change all that in the fall. I do think it is nice that Henry takes as much initiative as he does about getting Steve to go to the theater, etc., and although he may seem to rather take things into his own hands, I think that on the whole and in important matters he will prove to be perfectly responsible.

Oh dear I turned over Steve's, or rather your pink check book to Mrs. Royce, but I will write her or

call her and ask her to send you the information about
the amount spent up to July 1.

Whatever is the matter with Mr. Mignard? I see
no excuse for their being so slow about the itinerary.
When you give Henry the Express checks keep in mind that
he is planning to take Steve to the theaters and to res-
taurants where he might be able to see movie stars (which
you know he would enjoy more than all the scenic beauties
of California and Canada put together) and that they might
be fairly expensive. I wonder if Steve shouldn't have
a little extra money to put away in his wallet just in
case anything should happen to Hank, - if he should be run
over, for instance, Steve would be rather stranded, but
then he could always call you up, so perhaps it's not
necessary to take that extreme precaution.

I received a long and very sad letter from Boris
Ermoloff yesterday. He had known Mr. W. for thirty years,
he first met him at Sebastopol in 1919. He knew nothing
of future plans for the Institute at that point, as he
was waiting to hear instructions from Boston. He said that
the Russian Orthodox Church in Paris had had two services
for him.

Miss Wheelwright told me that the trustees of
the Institute were going to have to bring Boris over here,
as he is the only person who knows anything about Tom's
private affairs.

I was so annoyed at Frances Crane at the
funeral, - we were hardly out the door of the chapel be-
fore she started in at me about who did I know in Florence
and what was the Durans address for those tiresome and
helpless friends of hers. I can't imagine why the Durans
would be interested in meeting them and I don't think people
should ask for introductions for people that one doesn't
know.

We hope to get over to the mainland again tomorrow, so I will mail this then.

Lots of love,

June 27, 1950

Sutton Island

Dearest Ma:

Our neighbors, the Wyncie Kings, have finally arrived so that we have telephonic communication with the world, when it works, that is. Yesterday I called Mrs. Royce and she told me that she had just heard from you, That you were settled in W.H. and glad to be there. I asked her to send you the figures that you wanted from Stephen's check book.

Robbie is flying up here on Thursday,-- he gets to the Bar Harbor airport about 8:30, so we are going over for him and have asked Mrs. Royce tp have dinner with us on the way.

On Sunday we received an invitation, or rather a Royal Command, from Miss Wheelwright to come over for tea. The invitation took the form of a visit by Captain Stanley,-- Miss W.'s very taciturn boatman,-- at a time when no one was here but Lali,-- busy writing away at her book about her experiences with the Russians, etc. The scene must have had quite comic aspects because Lali, being quite conservative in such matters refused to let him in and pretended she wasn't there, until he finally just opened the door and delivered the ultimatum that we were to be at the dock at 4:00 P.M. to be taken to Miss Mary's for tea.

We had a very pleasant time,-- we all discussed and made hash of the "Cocktail Party", fortunately we all agreed about that; Miss W.'s yankee blood must feel most at home here because she is positively genial. From the names of the people on shore whom she sees occasionally,-- Northeast Harbor,-- it sounds to me as though the entire population of your Monday class has moved in a body up here; Mrs. Fay, Mrs. Milliken, Mrs. Belmont ( is she a member ?) and I'm sure many others.

It was just as though the Colony Club had a summer annex.
The parking lot was filled with limousines and chauffeurs
holding fancily clipped poodles on leashes, who looked wist-
fully at the ill kempt Sambo.

Today Mary and I are driving up to Ellsworth to have lunch
with Marianne's two friends, Marcia Chamberlain and Kathrine
Jones.

Dan and Ed wired yesterday that they can't leave N.Y. till
Thursday, so of course that will be too late for them to come
up here. Just as well, perhaps, it would have been rather
hectic having them here these last few days. They will come
to Windsor instead, I suppose.

It is cold and rainy today.

Lots of love to you and Aunt Floy,

P.S. I'm glad you liked the Ft. Hunter story.

July 3, 1950

Sutton Island

ris' letter, already from Boston. I
arrival here in my answer, and said
I will be curious to know what they
in Istanbul.

It is having a good rest if nothing
cirely around the island there isn't
land, except sit in the sun when it
and read when it isn't. Actually the
with all the household chores and all
We have decided to call this "Little
nt yesterday and wrote up the story of
I would send it to you to read but
hin a hundred miles of Mrs. Meigs; even
eelings, although I think we have all
that it is chic to have such picturesque

to go and visit Rowland Burden-Muller this
day the duration of her visit from the
proposed to just the weekend. I have been
phone for days to make the arrangements but
getting on so well with her book here
interrupt it.

ray expedition on Thursday with Miss Wheel-
her boat to a neighboring island for lunch.
ike the Italian Lakes, when the sun is out...
arrived ?

as enjoyed himself and not been too restless
m and Hank in G.B..

and love to Aunt Floy,

July 5

Dearest Ma:

We had a very foggy Fourth, - nothing but indoor activity all day long. In the evening we went to some neighbor's house for supper, - some prosperous and hospitable coal people from Pennsylvania named Hessenbruch. They have a daughter at Miss Hall's who knows the twins. Mr. & Mrs. H. remind me a little of Fred & Thekla: he is big and burly, and, having sold out his coal interests several years ago, he spends his summers in sailboat racing and his entire winters in shooting small birds, from Vermont to Louisianna. Everything that we ate for supper had been grown and shipped up from their farm in Pennsylvania, including the ham which he had had cured and which was really very good. Mrs. H. is very friendly, but talks such a steady stream that in the end you are quite worn out from trying in vain to get a word in edgewise.

In your last letter the Minx had only just arrived and you already sounded disappointed in it. Have you had a ride in it yet? The Logans' station wagon was a Buick, I think. It wasn't a special body, as far as I remember.

Oh dear I'm afraid I have forever fixed Rowland Burden-Muller as far as Miss Wheelwright is concerned. I phoned him the Kings the other day to arrange about Lali's visit; Miss W. was there having lunch with them. Rowland carried on in his usual severe manner about how if I must choose a primitive island to spend the summer on I mustN'T expect to be able to reach people by telephone, - etc. and that I should tell Lali to leave her trousers here as they are more civilized in Camden;

he finally finished with "I don't like those islands anyway"; I thought this was so funny that I gaily repeated it to the assembled group, but Miss W. didn't think it was funny at all and took it quite personally. I had relayed to him an invitation from her to drive up for lunch or the night, and he had said he couldn't come now, possibly in July, -but when I repeated this to her she said, "Well, now I do n't want him at all. If he doesn't like the islands he can't come at all."

Rowland said he hadn't been well at all, - he has anemia and has to go down to Boston for an examination later on in the month. He spoke on about what a quiet time Lali would have there, how she could work, how she would have a nice room and good food, etc. all in contrast, I suppose, to what he thinks she is getting here !

"We are going in to town today to put Robbie on the night plane."

Lots of love,

Sunday, July 9

Dearest Ma:

This is the second of two absolutely perfect days; when it is clear and sunny here it makes such a difference,- it really is rather like pictures of the Italian Lakes, as we more or less face the mainland, Mount Desert Island, rather, which is quite mountainous. We have been having breakfasts and lunches on the porch, almost over the water, and now I am writing on it. Of course the water is too cold for swimming, not that one would be tempted to on this rocky shore. Miss Wheelwright said that she used to swim, but her legs would get all cut up by barnacles, but they would be so mumb from the cold that she wouldn't even notice until she came out of the water, all bloody.

On Friday we drove Lali down to Rowland's, and had lunch there. As you can imagine the house is quite elegant and fastidiously furnished,- still not very attractive, it is big and dark; it was pouring with rain the entire time we were there, so perhaps it would seem less gloomy on a nice day. It is a grey shingled house, quite overgrown with ivy, and there is a long sloping lawn going down to the water. Rowland looked very badly, very pale; he seems quite concerned about his health, says he has to rest a great deal and go back to Boston soon for another checkup. He talked the usual absolute flow - the balance of conversation was as follows: Rowland 90%, Lali 9%, Louise I%, Mary 0. We went through every single day of his trip in Europe, then he & Lali discussed every single individual whom he had seen or met,- there were so many brief biographies flying around that one became quite dizzy. Lali tried to turn him off of personalities finally by mentioning Korea, and then he set off on politics and his usual grouching about everything & that was almost worse. In the midst of all this Sambo, whom Rowland had welcomed quite unceremonially to the house but who was not permitted in the dining room, in fact the door had been closed in his face,- suddenly pushed open the door and

slunk in, quickly and surrepticiously, and settled himself
at Mary's feet under the table. Fortunately Rowland didn't
notice. After lunch Florence Codmand came over, and we ar-
ranged that she and her two house guests would drive up
here on Tuesday, bringing Lali with them, for lunch.

I hope your ailment is quite cleared up by now; it
must be very inconvenient, to say the least; and I hope
Aunt Floy is feeling better.

I am going to call Steve today, at noon, to say goodbye.
I will keep this open in case there is anything to add be-
fore I mail it tomorrow.

Yes, I said that I thought Hank is, paid up to
July 7; I have Bertha's address, it is:

Box # I, RFD I, Ontario, Va..

I am sure they will come back in time to get the house
all open, - but I don't four or five days are necessary, there
really is nothing to do. Also, I am sure that they will leave
someone in charge of the house, they always do, but I will
ask them about this today.

I received a long letter from Steve last week; he
sounded very cheerful and seemed excited about histrip.
I wouldn't worry about his determination not to spend an-
other winter in G.B., I am sure that that will all work its-
elf out, especially if we can plan a trip. In any case it is
out of the question for him to move.

Perhaps Hank could get a job in one of the boys' schools
in the Berkshires and live with him. What would you think of
this? If all goes well on the trip, that is.

Give my love to Aunt Floy, with lots of love,

Wednesday, July 12

Dearest Ma:

Went in to town yesterday morning and found two letters from you there. I am sorry to hear that your trouble has persisted, - hope it is much better by now.

You ask me about insurnace of Steve's house: I don't know who handled that, - wasn't it someone in G.B. ? I will ask Mrs. Royce when she comes over on Friday.

Lali returned yesterday, driven up here by Florence Codman & her two house guests who all came over here for lunch, thank good ness no more than that. Lali, I am certain, was very glad to get back to our Rousseau-ish existence after four days of practically unadulterated Rowland B.-M., not that she didn't appreciate his hospitality, but the idea of the visit was that she would get "plenty of good food, - good linen, rest and lots of time to work, -" but as it was she had no time to work because Rowland was with her every single minute. She said she would conduct her to the beach that belongs to the house every morning, - wearing a striped shirt and an enormous Latin-quarter type hat, with a big brim, and it on the beach, - clapping his hand when she should go in the water, and again when she should come out, just like an old English governess.

On Monday Miss Wheelwright ordered us out again and we had a wonderful expedition with her to several of the out-lying islands. One that we visited had great enormous pink granite blacks on one side, - about 100 feet across, and then on the other side was a little tiny fishing village. We visited the cemetery, and I found one rather nice epitaph for a seven-teen year old married woman, - Lucinda, - it simply said " She Made Home Pleasant. " Later we went out even farther to a little island with a beach of the most beautiful pebbles that you can possibly imagine: all bright colors and perfectly round and oval shapes; some were jasper, I think. We all went quite wild with greed, - like people discovering a hidden treasure and filled every pocket and other receptacle that we could find. I'll never forget Miss W. sitting down on the beach and filling her pockets full, and then having a terrible time getting up again ! We brought bags full back, and then sorted them out on the trip home with the true connaisseur( don't know how to spell it ) snobbery and rivalry. Miss W., quite an authority on pebbles, - would condescendingly acknowledge most of my acquisitions as " a pretty one," or a "sweet one ", - and very rarely she would sincerely approve, with " that's a fine pebble. "

Her boat is just a plain fishing boat, - like the Limulus only smaller and narrower. The motor boats are all about the same up here, like that one that Mrs. Choate had, I think, - maybe a little bigger.

I will send the Ft. Hunter story on when I get a big envelope, and trust to your discretion !

I also received a letter from Hank, - with a itemization of the cash that he had spent; I will keep it. Also a letter from Steve with a copy of their itinerary.

Lots of love, may add to this before mailing.

[1950]

Friday, July 21.

Sutton Island

Dearest Mq:

I will send this special delivery, in case it
arrives on Sunday.

It is a heavenly day,- they come just about
every other day now; we are going ashore on a sort of minor
excursion with the Kings, - to take the shore drive around
Mt. Desert Island, have lunch on a beach, then drive up
Cadillac Mountain. Miss Wheelwright is so scornful of us
for our ignorance of this region ,- " in my day we had to
climb every mountain we saw ", that we try to do a bit of
sight-seeing every time we go ashore for groceries.

On Tuesday we had quite a time,- Miss W. took
us all up to Ellsworth, to see some "diggings" going on
there under the auspices of the Peabody Museum and a local
Museum at Bar Harbor. Of course all they amounted to were
a lot of rectangular holes in the ground, - with people
sitting around grubbing in the dirt and occasionally secre-
ting a little of the blackest dirt into little envelopes;
they had found a few arrow heads and shards of some sort.
It was supposed to be the camping ground of some very ancient
Indian tribes,- something like 10,000 B.C., I think I heard.
It looked just like an exhumed cemetery.

Miss W.'s present house guest, who came along,
is a pleasant little woman named Mrs. Boardman. Of course
we became related right away,- she is quite ageneologist, I
think Carl Cobb should get in touch with her. She is from
N.Y., but I think her husband's family came originally
from Connecticut, anyway she said he used to claim Aunt
Mabel as a distant cousin. Her name is Mrs. William B..

She was one of the ladies who used to run
that dancing class that I went to at the Cosmopolitan Club,
and I remember we all went out to her house in Riverdale
for a sort of annual excursion.

I received a very funny letter from Steve
today,- he seems to be having a real whirl in L.A.. He en-
joyed meeting Mabel Randolph,- they apparently had invited

July 23

Sutton Island

Dearest Ma:

This is the beginning of our last week here and there is suddenly so much to do that I feel quite hectic. There are so many excursions one would like to make, but being on an island makes all the distances twice as long what with all the red tape of getting ashore and then back out here.

We are leaving on Saturday, - Mary will go part way and then take a train for Boston & Woods Hole, probably on Sunday. Lali & I will head for Windsor, and I hope we can get there in time to hear Ellabelle sing at Tanglewood on Sunday. She is doing the "Song of Songs". Don't worry, I know what you are thinking, - I won't hurry. I also hope to get there in time to welcome Bertha II and "Fitz".

A telegram came from Haddads two days ago saying that Steve's car was in and asking me to take delivery as soon as possible because "world conditions make it risky to leave it undelivered." I don't know why except that they are afraid of cars being frozen, or else they would like to sell it for a higher price to someone else if they can. Anyway I called Bruce and he spoke to them and persuaded them to hold it until I get there. I will get Steve's checkbook from Mrs. Royce and take it with me, and pay for the car out of it. I will keep the car until he gets back. I talked with Winnie D. who told me that she had taken a house in Woods Hole for Aug. II to Sept. II. I'm sorry she won't be in Dalton while we are there.

I have been spending a good deal of time trying to help Lali with her book. She literally works

from morning to night on it, I have never seen such
absorption, one can hardly get her out of the house.
She has such wonderful material,-- it is both very
exciting and at times amusing,-- and she expresses her-
self very well. But her great handicap really is in the
language; she persists in using what I suppose is German
or French sentence structure, and also a great deal of
it is very disorganized, and she goes off on slightly
irrelevant tangents which I in turn prune unmercifully.
We sit at either end of the dining room table and argue
like mad over practically every sentence. However I have
high hopes for the book; the part that is done is really
excellent,-- I will bring a copy along when I come to
Woods Hole. I quite enjoy working on it with her, it is
rather like doing a cross word puzzle.

We haven't heard from Dan & Ed., but suppose
they will be coming along during the week.

Lots of love to you and Aunt Floy, whom I
have just written,

August 3, 1950

Windsor

Dearest Ma:

Oh dear, I meant to suggest that you ask Mary
to show you some of the work that she did in Maine, but for-
got about it. She did some very good pictures of mushroom
and other flaura, and of flotsam and jetsam picked up on
the beach.

Last night Lali and I went with Winnie Davis
out to Tanglewood to hear one of the series of all Bach
programs sponsored by Mrs. Coolidge. This one was Alex
Schneider playing unaccompanied Bach Partitas and Sonatas;
an extraordinary tour de force, but quite exhausting to
listen to. In the middle of it I realized that I had lost
my sweater so I went out to look for it; first I went to
the ladies room and spent that part of the program looking
into every single cubicle for my red sweater, hoping that
no one would observe my insane behavior. Then I went to the
eer try to find the car and after endless searchings I finally
found what I thought was Winnie D.'s car, but no sweater,
and what was worse, no Sambo ! Then I got really worried
and wandered around in a nightmare state peering into every
single parked car looking for poor Sambo; finally I accosted
a group of chauffeurs and in an almost teary voice asked
if they had seen a black poodle, one who turned out to be
a policeman came along with me and we went through the whole
procedure of looking into every single car until we finally
found what turned out to be the right car with Sambo sleeping
peacefully inside. I couldn't bear to leave him again so took
him out and went back to look further on the grounds for my
red sweater, but they wouldn't let me in the gate again
with Sambo, then I was afraid I would lose Lali and W?D. but
they finally came thru the gate and we were all reunited;
I never did find the sweater, and didn't get too much out
of Mrs. Coolidge's generosity.

It will be very nice to have you here on the eleventh; I think we can make you fairly comfortable, and Elise can either stay right here, or with the Borbacks or at the Irving House. Perhaps the latter would be the most practical, if Alec could bring her up every morning, or James could get her.

The only other question that I can find is about Lali's winter plans; no, she won't stay with Renee again, in fact she thinks she has to go abroad in November if the situation isn't too ominous over there. She has to go to Germany on business, also to look at the things that she has stored in Frankfort and Hamburg and see what would be worth bringing over here, or else dispose of them in some way. She also has to see her daughter. She will stay here as long as I do, I think, and hopes to finish her book by the end of September, then she will stay in some small hotel in N.Y. until she leaves. I think she would eventually like to get some sort of a job in N.Y..

John Schaffner, the agent to whom I sent the two chapters of her book, wrote very enthusiastically about them. He is not going to submit them to a publisher until there is a little more to show. He is coming up here this weekend, so she will have a chance to discuss it with him.

Must do some chatellaine chores,

Lots of love,

P.S. I meant when Miss Bridgeman used to come up here with Sally Marean, Cynthia Eaton, etc. etc. and myself.

keep herding her in the right direction; her great idols
are Jean Lafitte, the pirate, and General MacArthur, and if
you aren't careful she keeps interrupting some-perfectly
fascinating items about the quadroon system, the cafe-au-
lait society, etc., with, " Now to get back to this man
Lafitte," or else she will quote from "MacArthur's latest
speech. She spends most of her time in her room memorizing
portions of his speeches. She said that the Cathedral in
New Orleans always had records of every single birth, so
that if one wanted to do any research as to the racial purity
of any prospective son or daughter-in-law all one had to do
was to look up their birth certificates and their family
trees at the Cathedral. But now, recently, the church de-
cided that this caused too much confusion and hardship, that
it was unchristian, so they have closed the records; now
only a lawyer with permission of all the people involved can
look at the records.

By the way, I looked in the N.O. telephone directory,
and I have asked everyone here, and no one seems to know
about Mrs. Stiegeman. I will ask information when I get back.

With lots of love,

Friday, Aug. 25

Windsor, Mass.

Dearest Ma:

I will quickly answer your four questions and save you from this state of acute curiosity. Now I can't find four. Let's see, - no, James does the beds; he is very big and strong, - Bertha seems to have assigned to him all the upstairs duties. He makes the beds and tidies up in general, - sort of combination ladies maid and chamber maid. We have very simple lunches, - sandwiches and coffee, for instance, - so the cooking really isn't too heavy. Besides, when there is just the three of us here they have very little work, and Bertha doesn't do any laundry, Mrs. Rorback does that for us. As far as the business about people who don't employ servants themselves is concerned, remember that they are the ones who also know how to do things about the house, - to make salads, or cook on Bertha and James night out. You should have seen us all last night: we had raided the attic in Dalton for costumes for the ball chnight, - and found those heavenly 1910 hats of yours. Ed had on the big black lace mushroom type hat on while he peeled peaches in the kitchen, - Lali had on your pink linen dress with an enormous hat with red roses on it, while I wore the old white linen dress and parasol; Axel had on an enormous black velvet hat, while Mary's little face was lost in a somber enormously brimmed Rebout number. We found wonderful things for the ball, - Lali and I are going to wear the two dresses, - they are in wonderful condition and really beautiful dresses, and she will wear the same hat with the pink roses and I will wear the black lace one and parasol; Mary is going to go as a Guatemalan Indian. Ed is going to wear that enormous tweed cap with visor, and Dan is going to fix himself up as a potted palm to go with Lali and me. We are taking an old baby bonnet for Robbie whom we will pick up at the station, and various other large straw hats and Chinese mandarin hats for the other guests.

his letter, which was very amusing. I may answer him today.

We are having nice weather now, beautifully clear, and it feels rather
the way the Cape does in September.

Lots of love,

June 27

Sutton Island

Dearest Ma:

Miss Wheelwright's Aeriel, Captain Stanley, made another
of his spritelike visits yesterday, to convey a royal command that
we are to be at the dock at noon today to go over to Cranberry Island
for lunch and a visit to the museum over there, along with Miss W.,
her friend Mrs. Allan and the Kings. Lali's ears always positively
prick up at the mention of a museum, but I'm afraid this isn't going
to be that kind of museum, - it will be natural history, etc., at any
rate I am sure that this will be a noteworthy expedition. Then we are
going over to the shore in the afternoon to do our shopping, mail, etc.,
then picking up Mrs. Royce and taking her out to dinner with us, then
meeting Robbie at the airport and returning here: all in all a ter-
rifically eventful day for these parts.

Maine seems to be densely populated with female writers, particularly poetesses with three names. Miss W.'s favorite is one named Abby Houston Evans or something equally long and similar; and when her name is mentioned Miss W. all butsalutes, - and it would be too bad of anyone dared to suggest that she weren't a far better peet than Emily Dickinson. Of course one can't read her because she is out of print and one wouldn't dare ask to borrow any of the precious volumes that Miss W. has. Mrs. King, on the other hand, (she has just retired from teaching English at Sarah Lawrence; previously she taught at Bryn Mawr, where Mary knew her.) has a pet discovery named Helen Clay Sivitzky; she tries so hard to get her to leave off the Sivitzky but she refuses, out of loyalty to her late husband, Mr. Sivitzky. Well Mrs. King has only seen three of her poems, or only has three of her poems. The legendary figure of this neighborhood is, however, Rachel Field; she lived in the King's house until she died, and wrote all about the folklore and natives of these islands. Miss W. had left her house to her, - when she apparently snatched it away from right under her nose when it became available, but fortunately survived her. Anyway Rachel Field has written a rather amusing account of, based on a real journal, of a captain who lived on Cranberry Island (this is one of the Cranberry Islands, - like the Elizabethan Islands); who became tired of fishing and whaling, so he went to Europe, - this around 1820, with a travelling show consisting of two Esquimoes and some stuffed seals. In England the female Esquimaux died, so he tried to substitute a gipsy for her, - dressed her all up in seashirts, but that didn't work out at all as "the female gipsy is a drunken, dissipated creature" and gave the whole show away in no time.

Let's see, - business before I forget it. I think I paid Hank
up to July 7, - I gave him another check for two weeks when I
asked the dates in the book.

I did a drawing.

Wednesday, Aug.2.

Windsor, Mass.

Dearest Ma:

I have never known such a cold August day in my life; it
could easily snow any moment. Perhaps it isn't so cold down in Dalton,
but I am sure it is too cold to go to an out of door concert this evening
as we had planned to do.

I am sending along with this a chapter, the only finished one,
from Bali's book. I thought you might be interested to read it. Let me
know what you think of it, also if you think it a good idea show it to
Monroe and Glenway. Perhaps they might have a suggestion about possible
publication; the only idea I have is to send it to John Schaffner,
who is a literary agent, an acquaintance of mine and a friend of Sylvia's.
I should think it might be suitable for publication in one of the popular
type of magazines, - Ladie's Home Journal, for instance, in serial form,
but I don't know much about that sort of thing.

Ellabelle did a wonderful performance of the Song of Songs, -
and the piece itself got much better reviews than it did the first time.
The audience just loved it, - it really is one piece of modern music that
could have great popular appeal. Leonard Bernstein wants to record it, so
Lukas says, - I only hope he can convince a recording company of it.

Bertha and James are working out very nicely. At first I was
a little depressed because everything seemed to go very slowly and the meals
were very confusing experiences with James waiting on table in one way, &
then Bertha, who is the brains of the two, darting out from the kitchen
to change everything around, so that we were in a constant midst of
coffee cups whirling from one side of us to the other, etc. He is large
and plump and I still don't know if he can talk, - Bertha usually inter-
prets to him, but he works very hard, polishing and vacuuming away with
quite unnecessary conscientiousness. However I think they were just very
nervous at first, - they had never been north before, and Arkley had given
them lessons in how to serve us and had probably quite confused them.
Bertha is an excellent cook, southern style, and he seems to drive well.

I got Steve's car and have it here. It is very nice. The manager
wasn't there when I took it out so I didn't ask about the price, will do
so when I am next in town.

The Rorabacks, the Rabouins successors, are very nice. They have
two little boys, 3 kittens, and a dog also named Sambo. Mrs. R. does our
laundry.

Loren & Lloyd are at Russell Lynes house in North Egremont. They
are going down to spend the weekend at Betty Parkinson's.

Our trip down from Maine was quite pleasant, although towards
the end I think you would have been rather horrified to see the car. We

stopped at several antique shops in New Hampshire and some how or other
managed to squeeze two cartons of old glass and dishes into the back of
the car. Island life does not improve one's sales resistance. Every once
in a while one of the caryons would fall over from the pile of suitcases
onto poor Sambo, squeezed into about ten inches of back seat, and all one
would see would be his nose and one reproachful eye peering out from
under. He is such a patient and saintly dog, but he hates to be left
alone and can't bear not to be taken along in the car wherever we go.
When we went to the concert we had to leave him here, and Bertha said
that he stood outside on the lawn in the rain and wouldn't come into
the house until quite late, in the rain, then finally he was quite glad
to come in.

We are going to have supper with Bruce and W.D. tonight and go
to a concert if the weather improves. Alexander Schneider playing unac-
companied violin, Bach sonatas, etc.. It is hardly the weather for the
violin in the out of doors; I can hardly play the typewriter, for that
matter.

With lots of love, and love to Aunt Floy, the Columns and
Monroe and Glenway,

Oh dear I meant to suggest that you ask Mary to show you the pictures she
did in Maine, now I guess she will be gone.

APARTADO No. 1815

TELS:

18-03-53

38-17 70

CABLE HOTEL MAJESTIC

MADERO 73

MEXICO, D. F.

HOTEL
MAJESTIC

Thursday Morning

Dearest Ma:

I didn't send the enclosed letter, because in the meantime we got on the trail of a furnished apt., and have just taken it, for a month. It is very nice,— in a new, modern part of town where it is much quieter and more restful, and we can have the car right there, right in the courtyard, the only way that one can be really sure about its safety. It is much more practical for us to take the apt., as it is not nearly as expensive as keeping these rooms all the time, and there will be room for Sha Sha, etc..

The Address is:

226 Calle La Fontaine
Polanco,
Mexico, D.F.

* All the streets on this part of town are named after philosophers or famous writers; we almost took one on Tennyson Calle.

We are now going to Cuernavaca for the weekend. I will see if Mrs. Morrow or Miss Aldrich are there, as I remember Miss Aldrich saying that she always spent Sept. there with Mrs. M..

I will probably fly up to L.A. around Sept. 6 or 7,— depending upon when Sha Sha can meet me there. Don't fret so much about this arrangement,— it will

APARTADO NO. 1815

TELE: 18-03-53
35-17 70

HOTEL
MAJESTIC

Before leaving San Miguel Allende we went to the old Church outside, of which I sent you the postcards of frescos, "Atotonilco". It is something absolutely extraordinary. Practically every square inch of the interior, including several chapels, is painted in fresco, like a Mexican Sistine Chapel, by one of the monks in the eighteenth century. Outside of the religious motifs it is more like a Venetian Palace,-- one chapel is almost entirely decorated by paintings on the mirrors, another entirely trompe-l'oeil effect, with painted lace on the walls and painted velvet curtains (this was later, but it seems so frivolous for a convent), and the entrance has miniature paintings on every panel and beam. It is all going to pieces,-- in terrible condition, but the priest in San Miguel has written and published a book about it, with many illustrations, which I will bring back to show you. It seems to me to be the only good Mexican painting that I can remember having seen or heard about. Incidentally, the priest who wrote the book, admits that he is of the same family as Diego Rivera, and he devotes a good deal of his monograph about Totonilco to scolding that individual.

With lots of love to you and Aunt Floy, and Winnie Davis and the twins,

P.S. Thankyou for forwarding my mail. I can't understand why they sent it to Woods Hole, as they have been forwarding it all along to Albuquerque, and now here, or at least I wired John from Albuquerque to send it here. Perhaps he is on vacation. Anyway I am writing him now.

Tuesday, Sept. 2

Mexico

Dearest Ma:

I was very sorry to hear of Aunt Floy's reassignment to her bed, and
have just written her. Is it the same sprain, or a different one ?

We had a nice weekend in Cuernavaca, spending most of the time with
various Spanish friendsof Victorias who live there or have houses there. I don't
think Cuernavaca is a very interesting place to visit, but I can understand why
people like to live there, as the climate is ideal, and the houses are very pretty
once one is inside them, some with beautiful grounds and patios that one would
never suspect from the outside. Incidentally, we stopped at the Morrow house to
find out if anyone, particularly Miss Aldrich, were there. Firsta maid answered
the door, and she didn't know anything; then she summoned a person whom I suppose
was the house-keeper, but who arrived in a wrapper, altho it was noon, and she
didn't know anything either. It all seemed rather casual and mysterious, but I
suppose when the cats away, etc..

I found the Rivera murals do not improve with time; I never did like
Rivera much, but now they seem like bad commercial art, and besides all this they
are in very bad condition, stained and cracking. What a pity that all that money
wasn't applied instead to renovating those frescoes that we saw in the church out-
side of San Miguel Allende.

This little apartment is very comfortable, sunny and cheerful, and such
a relief from the chaos of the main part of town.

I am now planning to fly up to Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon, via a Pan-American non-sop flight which gets in there around eleven at night. I will stay at the Park-Chapman Hotel, same one that Steve and George stayed at, and I think that Sha Sha will meet me there. I will write Steve and tell him, and then will call him on Sunday.

If you have Steve's checkbook with you, would you send me a few checks
there, about five, I should think, so that I can pay for house rent, doctor, etc.
However if you don't have the checkbook there don't worry about it, because I will
pay everything and then can be refunded later.

I will stay in L.A. two or three days, until I get everything settled,
and then come back here. We are planning to take a trip down to Oaxaca later on,
and I don't expect to get back to N.Y. until around the middle of October.

Well, that's all for now,

AIR MAIL

Monday, July 14
C/O Stedman Ranch
Route # 1, Box # 45
Santa Fe, N.M.

Dearest Ma:

We have proceeded at a rather dazzling rate, and already, only three days after having left N.Y., we are all settled in a nice little house just outside of Santa Fe. We arrived in Albuquerque on Friday evening, on Saturday morning I bought a brand new Plymouth Convertible (specifically because it is a good, safe car and will be very easy to re-sell, which is much more practical than renting a car) and we drove up here, and yesterday we found this house, advertised in the local paper, and moved in until Aug. 7. It is in Tesuque, near the Indian Pueblo of that name, and very conveniently located, as it takes us less than ten minutes to drive into town. Now that we are settled here I remember that Miss Wheelwright had spoken of this place, but it was just sheer luck that we happened to look in the paper on Sunday and find it. The house has three bedrooms and two baths, kitchen, big living room, and also a little separate studio, completely furnished, all for $150. It is very comfortable and very nicely furnished. The lady that owns it is a widow, but her husband was an architect and they just kept on building houses and renting them, so that now she has four houses besides her own.

This is quite a Mexican community and last evening as we sat on the porch we were gradually approached by two little girls, they kept sitting wandering around and then sitting down, closer and closer each time, until their curiosity got the better of them and they came right up and joined us. They were ten and eleven, and they

Victoria sends "abrazos carinosos".

Wednesday, July 31

Santa Fe, N.M.

Dearest Ma:

Thank you for two letters which arrived this morning. You sound fearfully social for Woods Hole, lunches and dinners in rapid succession. It's too bad you can't take guests more casually, let them stay up late by themselves, etc., instead of wearing yourself out with them. However I suspect that you really didn't want to miss anything yourself ! Esp. on television.

I simply don't understand a thing about the Dem. convention. However don't you think that, since there is a danger of their winning anyway, it is better that it be with a good man ? I should think that the choice of V.P. would lose them the entire Negro vote, however I don't know a thing about him except that he comes from Alabama.

What is all this about Bruce running for office ? I received a most terse note from him in acknowledgement of my check in which he casually remarks that he is running for office too.

I just had a long conversation on the telephone with Aunt Floy's friend Miss Guest. You probably know her,- she sounds awfully nice; I just met her at Mrs. L.'s, but didn't have a chance to talk with her, so am going in to see her tomorrow. She told me the whole history of the stone reredos which we were anxious to know about. Since we were here last ( I don't remember seeing it before) it has been moved to a new church where it can be seen very well. The church seems to be very unpopular, V. couldn't get over its being Catholic and so austere,- and the next time we go I am going to try to take a photo of it.

Mrs. Lippincot is breathlessly arranging a concert for her protege the violinist,- to take place on Friday afternoon at a neighboring ranch. I think she is completely infatuated with the him, and she is planning to very generously hand him over to you for the winter, at least she asked if I thought she could give him a note to you and I said "of course".

Santa Fe seems to be a complete matriarchy,- densely populated, as I have said before, by very cultivated ladies, milder imitations of Miss Wheelwright. But they have done wonderful work in protecting the Indians and preserving their art, so I shouldn't make fun of them.

According to our landlady and her son, N.M. is the second most corrupt state in the nation, second only to La.. They say that the ballot is not secret here,- a little number is covered over by a pasted corner of paper, and if your employers wish to find out how you voted all they have to do is to look up the number corresponding to your name. They said that they knew of instances in which people had lost their jobs for the way they voted. They also told a funny story about the prisoner here , ( V., af-nowthe now that she is well rested again, is showing signs of wanting to visit a prison ); they said that when N.M. became a State, Santa Fe, being the largest city, had the choice of having the prison, the lunatic asylum or the University of N.M. After very brief deliberation they chose the prison; then Las Vegas, at that time the second largest city, chose the lunatic asylum, and Albuquerque was left with no choice but the University. The prison apparently is a disgrace now, and up to recently it has been run by a political appointee, but the riots revealed such terrible conditions that a professional warden has been appointed. In my WPA guidebook of 1940 it says that the prison may be visited for 25¢, but now I can imagine that even V. may have trouble getting in.

Dayton

Wednesday, June 24, 1953

Redding, Conn.
Redding Road

Dearest Ma:

Mr. Pittard is hammering in the upstairs bathroom, Mr. Gugler in the downstairs one so its all very peaceful in the country. The house has improved tremendously since you saw it, however; the floors all stained and waxed, everything cleaner, etc..

Steve is coming down on Friday for the weekend.

I spoke to Mrs. Botsford, and hope she has been able to arrange to come to W.H.. Her life seemed to be in a hopeless tangle of conflicting plans, etc.. and it was too hot for comprehension at the time.

I hope your trip to Woods Hole was pleasant; it must be cold there now.

The gun is really a museum piece; perhaps I should surrender it to the American Wing. It is of curly maple, with lots of silver and brass ornaments, and the name A.N.Jackson is engraved on top. Andrew? And isn't the little pear-wood figure supposed to be Andrew Jackson too ? I have it here, and I am very glad that you never sold it. So far, as you see, the furnishings are more of an ornamental nature; however we have the minimum requirements including some lamps and chairs loaned by Pittard, and the empty spaces are very attractive.

Capo Brooks was here for supper last night; her description of a dinner at the Van Wyck Brooks, over the weekend, was far from what one would expect of the author of the Flowering of New England. It was a boiling hot night, to begin with. Then a daughter and grand-daughter of the present Mrs. Brooks dropped in, with the result that they were given all the cold food and Kenny and Capo had to eat hot chili or something of the sort. Then Mrs. Brooks, who has what Capo calls a "power mania", insisted upon concentrating the entire conversation on the thirteen-year old, somewhat mentally retarded son of Kenny's brother, while the other adults were听

With lots of love,

August 7, I 953

Dayton Road
Redding, Conn.

Dearest Ma:

Here is a picture of your future
acquisition,- the "Sacred Dog of Tibet", also
described as " a rugged little companion". I
think that he will be a great addition to your
salon, if not too much of a scene stealer.

David is fine,- more wooly-bearish
than ever. He is to such an extent the center
of attention here that I suddenly have realized
this house will inevitably be called "The House
of David". There is no avoiding it.

Margaret Miller is spending part
of her vacation here,- and she is busily en-
gaged in planting a tiny moss and fern garden
in one of the stone enclosures. The grounds
look awfully nice now,- I must say that the two
juvenile delinquents who work around the place
(I mean they look the part, not are) have done
a very good job. The tree surgery took place
this week, and that's about all to be done for
the time being, thank goodness.

The antique stores around here are
wonderful,- you really should give up those
awful Cape Cod clip-joints and wait until you
are around here.

The trip here is very tedious,- but
perhaps it wouldn't be so bad coming via
Providence. Would you like me to look for an
inn around here ? You could stay here perfectly
well, I should think, or else you could stay
somewhere nearby. Or else if you decide to
go to N.Y. by train, you could come out here

August 14, 1953

dearest Ma:

What shall I do with an accumulation of bills for Steve? Do you have pink checks, or Mrs.B.?
If you have the book, then please send me about a dozen checks; otherwise let me know if I should send them to Mrs.B., wherever she is.

If you go to Sylvia's I don't think you should climb the stairs, - as there are about two flights of rather steep ones. The Clam-bake Club is very near their house.

Just received yours with the horrid, subversive propaganda about Lhassa terriers. I wouldn't believe a word of it, - besides, Mrs. Stokes doesn't like hardly anything, and Glenway's sister-in-law may just not be a Lhassa type. I am sure that Alec can house-break it, - and they are so small that they can't do much, anyway. Why don't you take it, and if you don't like it you can easily find a home for it.

David still thinks he is about the size of a Lhassa, although by now, if one were to meet him in arctic regions he could easily pass for a polar bear. When I arrived from N.Y. on Tuesday with Catherine Viviano, who came up for a couple of days, he flew at the car, up onto Catherine's lap and over the seat and out again on the other side, all in a split second. Catherine, who was flattened out, said that she had felt as though she were drowning. We have to be more severe with him, but it is hard to snub him demonstrations of affection.

Steve and Bertha and Arkley all came down here for the day on Sunday, arriving resplendant in Arkley's new canary yellow Chevrolet convertible. "XXX's new Victoria gazed at them all, and murmured, -" Ca c'est le vrai communisme". Arkley turned in Steve's old Pontiac, for $650, - and they were very appreciative about that.

Did I say that I had a sedate tea with Miss Crothers and two enormous German police dogs, the other day? She said to tell you that she would be glad to put you up for the night anytime. I don't think her hospitality would extend to Elise and Alec, but they could stay somewhere nearby.

I had an enthusiastic letter from Marianne about her visit with you, - and another one about her efforts to find a young lady suitable to present to her twenty year-old cousin, John. Someone had told her of "a lovely Miss Johnson", secretary to Dr. Jocelyn the kidney specialist, said to be a connection of the Crane family of Dalton"; John, the cousin, had said that there

GLENWOOD PLANTATION HOUSE

LOUISIANA HIGHWAY 29

NAPOLEONVILLE, LOUISIANA

TELEPHONE 4631

Sunday, Apr. 23.

Dearest Ma:

It has been raining most of the past week, and last night we had a terrible thunder storm and now the lights won't work, nor the plumbing. It has been very warm, however. As we have had no car we have been very quiet, reading, and playing ping pong and badminton. I have been reading the Marble Faun, also a marvellous book about this part of the country called "Mme. Toussaint's Wedding Day". Did you ever hear of it? It is just a very simple account of the whole day in the life of one of the fisherwomen on one of the islands off the coast, shrimp fisherwoman; it is written by a doctor who lives in one of the french fishing villages, and altho he has never written anything else, as far as anyone knows, it really is awfully good. Also a book called "Bayous of Louisiana" which is very interesting.

Red is here this weekend and yssterday we drove to a place called Pierrepart, about fifteen miles away. It is a fishing village built on two adjoining bayous, and many of the people live in little houseboats. We had some marvellous boiled crawfish and beer. Red is leaving the car with us this week so that we will be getting around a, little more.

Thankyou very much for your three letters received during the week. How disgusting about Miss Lewisohns will; I can't understand how she could have done a thing like that. The house is full of guests this weekened, including an awful four year old brat. It seems that the first thing to do when a child arrives is to go out and find its black counterpart for it to play with; the first one they found, a tiny little black thing named "Augustine" cried and wanted to be taken home, for which I don't blame it; the second one, Rosabee, is more stoical. The brat is so awful that I finally, when her mother was out of earshot, threatened to beat her up, and she said that her father would kill me.

We went back to Mr. Klotz's antique shop; I am rather disillusioned in it as I find he gets his Audubon Prints from Goodspeed's Bookshop in Boston ! The old French foot-bath is still rather interesting, however it really is awfully big and, I can't think where it could be put or what it could be used for. I think it is rather hadnsome, however. It's price is $12.50. It is about 2 feet across and a foot wide. Can you think of any use for it ?

Would you pleaseask someone to send me the WPA guidebook to New Orleans which is in the bookcase on the left side of the window in my room ; I think I will give it to Charlotte.

Aunt Mabel would be very much impressed with Red, I think; every where we go he looks at every house to see

if they have a Red Cross sticke r in the window. Yesterday
at Pierrepart, every single little house, and every single
little houseboat, even , had their Red Cross in the win-
dow. The town was partially destroyed by a tornado a few
years ago, and the Red Cross partially rebuilt it, so I
the nativesbelieve that it is a good investment.Red organised
the RC war fund drive throut this part of the state.

This typewriter is rather independable, but I am so
unused to writing by hand that it is much easier.

Lots of love,

Monday, Oct. 10

Glenwood Plantation

Dearest Ma:

Thank you for your letter which I just received. I hope
you didn't have to stay up for Madame Caturla, - I really don't think
that Emily Post would have insisted on that. You should let Dr. Cook
put her to bed.

We had a nice day in Washington, - went to the Freer Gal-
lery and a little of the National Gallery, had lunch at the Sulgrave
Club with Mary and a friend of hers ( unfortunately it was bridge day)
then Lali and Mary went to the Phillips Gallery while I saw Aunt Floy.
I called Mrs. Crozier in the morning but she had just had another
fall the day before and couldn't see me, although we spoke on the
phone. I sent her some roses.

When I went out in the morning to get Lali at the Danish
Embassy the cab that I picked up turned out to be driven by a man who
had worked for sixteen years at the German Embassy, - and it all seemed
so suitable that I kept him for the day at considerable expense but it
did save time and energy. Of course he and Lali had many friends in
common. The flight down to New Orleans was pleasant, - we got in to the
hotel at about midnight, and then had a perfectly wonderful day in N.O.
the following day, seeing the French quarter in the morning, the garden
district ( nineteenth century 'American' section) and the parks in the
afternoon, and some nightlife in the evening. On Saturday we drove
out here in a rented Ford, - absolutely brand new, and at only 7 ¢ a
mile via the river road that goes along the East bank of the
Mississippi so that we could see some of the old plantation houses
on that side. We drove up as far as "Belle Helene", the square Greek
tomb that I had been interested in before. The owners have put in about
$20,000 worth of repairs, and then stopped, as I suppose their money
or their oil gave out; anyway it is temporarily protected from the
ravages of time. Quite a few other old places have been restored since
I was here last, - in fact there is too much shiny white paint around;
I think that they should forbid the sale of new paint in Louisiana
entirely.

On the way up we had one flat tire; an old French man came out
of a cottage and fixed it for us; he asked us where we were going and
when I said "Napoleonville" he said, "I thought you looked as though
you came from Napoleonville. " Another time we stopped at a little
general store and I went in to buy some coca-cola. There was an old
black woman inside the store, the only other customer. While I waited
I noticed that Lali had got out of the car and was walking around
outside; she saw me and waved at me, when the colored woman, who
was standing between me and the door, waved back at her then turned
to me and said chuckingly, "I guess she think she know me. "

Glenwood is nicer than ever, - there are more little black maids
working around so that everything functions better than when I was here

Wednesday, May 2.

Dearest Ma;

I just discovered this typewriter in a closet, & feel much more at home with it. I meant to enclose this clipping the other day, clipped out of the News the day I left N.Y. I don't quite get it but I suppose it was a case of inebriation.

I have just received a telegram from Ellabelle saying that Mr. Patterson died last night. I am glad that he didn't linger on.

We have been taking it very easy, - just "setting" most of the time, in true southern white trash fashion. I have started eye exercises, but they are so boring, mostly a matter of standing and swaying for hours on end. I wonder if this Bates method might not help Aunt Mabel, - he seems to be able to cure or at least help cataract even. The book is called "Sight without Glasses", and by Dr. Harold M. Peppard; I think you would find it interesting.

Lots of love,

Thursday, Sept. 22.

Dearest Ma: Thanks for your letter which arrived yesterday. I'm glad that your flight wasn't too tiring or unpleasant and hope you have caught up on sleep by now. The trip does sound pretty long; I suppose if one goes by London it might not seem so bad.

Our tour thru the chateau country with Mary Cabot Wheelwright was quite fun except that it simply poured for two days. The first day was fine; we stopped for a while at Chartres and had lunch there, then stopped at Chateaudun which had by far the nicest interior of any chateau, - probably because it was in the process of being restored and just had some wonderful tapestries and fifteenth century statues and nothing else, so wasn't dark and gloomy and cluttered up the way the others are. Miss W. spent that night with her friends at Vouvray and then joined us the next day and we went to Chenoncesaux, and were herded thru the chateau with about fifty other tourists. Miss W. is not suited to group sight seeing, - she is even more rebellious about guides than I am, and when the guide would be addressing the assembled open-mouthed group Miss W. could be seen at the other side of the room with her back turned, or looking out the window, - this usually after several futile attempts on her part to go her own way entirely. On Sunday we set out in the pouring rain for Solemes, & got there in time for the mass; the chapel is very long and narrow and very crowded, so it was rather hard to hear the singing but what one could hear was very good, of course. Then we had lunch and drove back along the Loire and looked at various other chateaus, but we rather lost our enthusiasm for their interiors.

We got back here on Monday, and the hotel, thanks largely to Pauline's constant pressure, I am sure, condescended to give us a room. The hotel is really very nice, altho the service isn't exactly comparable to the Ritz. Pepe is here now, also Rowland Burden-Muller; we all had dinner together including Pauline on Tuesday night and last night Rowland invited Mary and me to have dinner with him and a very nice couple from Boston named Richard Mculanaghan; he is at the Boston Museum. Rowland called for us in a horsedirven cab, the only vehicle that he could find, and we went to the restaurant which was near Les Halles; afterwards as we were leaving I was irresistably lured towards the sounds of a guitar coming from a little cafe nearby, and I in turn lured everyone into it, and it turned out to be the most wonderful place, "rendez-vous des Corses" - nothing but Corsicans; two men sitting around were playing guitars, apparently for their own amusement; after some persuasion the girl behind the cash register came down from her pedestal and sang some perfectly wonderful Corsican songs in a very strong and shrill voice; the language sounded like a cross between Italian & Spanish; it was all quite a discovery.

We still haven't done anything about reservations but will have to soon, I suppose.

With much love, and love to Bruce, Winnie D. & the twins, also to steve.

LE CHAMBIGES

HOTEL - RÉSIDENCE
8, RUE CHAMBIGES
PARIS, VIIIe
TELEPH : ELYSÉES 74-42 +

Sunday, May 8

dearest Ma:

I have not written before because all this week I have been rather frantically getting the last *Iberica* (May 15 issue) material translated and assembled. Now it's all off, thank goodness, and in poor Vernons hands I hope.

Paris is lovely and clear most of the time. I haven't yet had to say "Thankyou" for making me bring the heavy coat, but no doubt the opportunity will arise. All the lilacs, chestnuts and wistaria are out, and Paris is at her best, if a bit showery at times.

This hotel is quite perfect to my way of thinking,—very small and quiet and clean. It is on a little back street between the Ave. Georges V and the Ave. Montaigne,— right behind the Hotel Plaza Athenee. The street is just one block long so there is very little traffic. The rooms have nice little white marble fireplaces and the traditional turkey-red carpets.

Everything seems very expensive here, although I suppose a good deal of this impression is due to the fact that 350 francs sounds like a lot more than $1. But I really don't know how the working people make out.

Yesterday afternoon Adele de Blonay took us out to her aunt's country place, about 30 miles outside of Paris to the north. It was rather a fantastic sort of "chateau" built in 1900, on the walls of a medaeval castle,— all very ugly and full of stuffed water buffalo heads and other trophies. Hardly had we arrived before we were ordered out into the forest to search for "muguets", and as it was rather muddy and mosquito-infested we didn't endure that for long. Then we had a hasty tea, and the aunt, who was right out of Balzac, all wreathed in black, went galloping off into the fields in search of lilacs, her umbrella over her arm. It was all very French.

Today Victoria's brother and sister are arriving, they have driven up from Seville with a friend.

I hope you are feeling better and recovered from Washington, and that you haven't acquired the brandy habit !

Lots of love, will write again in a day or so,

LE CHAMBIGES

HOTEL - RÉSIDENCE
8, RUE CHAMBIGES
PARIS, VIIIe
TÉLÉPH : ELYSÉES 74-42 +

Monday, May 16

Dearest Ma:

Thank you for your two letters. I am glad that the house is actually sold -- is it really? -- and for heavens sake don't give a thought to the left-overs. If you like I can go down there and retrieve them when I get back, but don't you dare make a step in the direction of Washington.

Betty Kruse sounds very nice. She wrote to me, too, and I was glad to hear news of David from her.

All last week we were inundated with Spaniards. There were times when I wasn't quite sure as to whether we were in Paris or Seville. Victoria's brother and sister arrived, along with two other friends and the chauffeur of one of them, all in a big American car. Their arrival had a rather gypsy-like quality, as they piled out of the car, along with dozens of suitcases, a case of sherry, a gallon of olive oil, etc. etc. V.'s brother and sister are adorable, both very little and doll-like, and the two friends, also businessmen from Seville, were very pleasant. Not one of them spoke a word of French, nor did the chauffeur, a very young and good-looking boy who went everywhere with us as we didn't like to leave him alone. His reaction to Paris was very funny: he kept breathing deeply and saying "Oh--- Paris ! I will never forget this; Seville has no atmosphere."

Piloting them all around Paris, we usually were a party of 8 or 9, was rather exhausting however, and in a way it was somewhat of a relief to see them all pile into their car again and head for Spain.

Then Madariaga arrived, and on Friday evening he invited us to attend a lecture that he gave on the Spanish conquests in America, at some very very elegant little salery, full of duchesses in fancy hats who all swarmed around him afterwards in the most irritating manner. The next day we attended a meeting, at his invitation, of the Council for Spain of the United European movement, which was extremely interesting and revealing. It is composed of about 12