24th April, 1935.

Miss Helen Simpson,
48, Queen Anne Street,
W.1.

Dear Miss Simpson,

How very nice of you to read the
historical novel. It was very stupid of me not
to have given you some indication of to what the subject
was. Thank God, it is not about the Normans,
American Independence or even Borgias, but it is about
Peter the Great, which is, I hope, not a subject
entirely distasteful to you.

God knows what you mean by paying you
a lot, but before mentioning any sum, I am hastily
sending off the MS. to you, and will in return send
you a cheque, which I hope will not incur life-long
enmity. Perhaps we could even lunch together, and
I could surreptitiously hand you the cheque underneath
the table, after having given you a sufficient amount
of good food.

Yours sincerely,

BVT/ER.

48, QUEEN ANNE STREET,
W.1.

27th April, 1935.

Dear Mr. Van Thal,

Here's the report on Czar. It is a
puzzling, horrid, and obviously well
documented book which gave me nightmares.

Ring up one day the week after next,
and we'll have a talk. I am going out
of London for the Jubilee.