Decca, p.13
Decca, page 13
The man really is sorry for its awful lapse in writing, I suppose to the hard old Boot heart no excuse would do, anyway I will try & write more next week, hoping to put the old Boot in a good frame of mind for its Brown visit down here. I got your letter about calling the Donk Carol on the forms, rather unnecessary of you just as everyone has started calling her Constancia & I’ve got the Birther & everything.
Monday Kay & Phil came to see the donk & we all went off to Sister’s63 At Home. When we arrived there was Sister & the gaunt figure of Lady Halifax.64 We all sat round very stiffly in a circle & by mistake I found myself ensconced on a love-seat type sofa next to Lady H. Apparently Sister & Va were absolutely terrified I should say something untoward, but of course I didn’t, (except to point out (when everyone was saying how brave of Lady H to stay in London through the bombings) that she was probably in very little danger as it was only the badly built East End houses that suffered much damage). When Lady H left everyone except me stood up, & we all drew a deep breath & things became rather pleasant….
Old Bird you don’t know how I’m looking forward to next weekend—if you can’t get permission to come to the US can I come up there anyway? Let me know in plenty of time which train you’re coming on….
Best love, Yr adoring Slipper
To Lady Redesdale
Toronto
April 9, 1941
Darling Muv,
I just got your letter of 18th March, so considering Virginnie had to forward it here65 it arrived amazingly quickly. It says in the papers that no mail arriving this side has been lost, but a good deal is lost going to England, so you probably don’t get half my letters.
Do write more news of Henderson’s engagement—did you all know she was engaged or did she keep it secret? Why did they have to wait till Andrew was 21? It must have been awful for them. Do write every detail of the wedding66 etc & tell what Andrew is like apart from speaking indistinctly & being tall & thin! …
We came up here about 2 weeks ago, the baby in a basket which she lives in; the journey wasn’t at all bad & there was a v. nice (black) Pullman porter who rocked the Donk off to sleep & was wonderful to her. He said he was the eldest of 12 children & knew all about babies. She gets bathed in a large saucepan as I thought I was only coming for the weekend & didn’t bring her bath. We are living in a very nice little flat & Esmond comes up 1 day in 4 so it’s well worth it.
The Donk is getting awfully fat & pretty. Someone lent me a pram so I take her out every day.
I don’t like Canada at all, it seems to me like an awful copy of America, & the people are horrid. They are very anti English & anti American but vastly inferior to both. I expect it was quite different where you were,67 & Esmond says the West is fairly nice where the people are more of Central European rather than English extraction….
There are several English refugees here & I really feel sorry for them (tho not for those in America as they are very well treated & anyway America is such heaven)….
Well I must scram now, give my love to all the others….
Best Love From Decca
To Nancy Mitford
Alexandria
May 20, 1941
Darling Sue,
I just got your letter of 24th April, so it didn’t take long. Do write a lot, I long to hear all the inner form & Susan you see letters DON’T get sunk if one WRITES them, admit?
Yes, I do worry a lot about you all, not so much from the point of view of getting killed as not having enough to eat & having a v. narst time in general. Do say if you’d like things sent, I’ll send some anyway next time I go to Washington but say if it’s any good & what are the best things.
This is the American form re England: when the war first started there was still a very anti-English sentiment among all but the most reactionary on account of Munich, & the fact Chamberlain was still heading the govt. This feeling gradually swung round as the war intensified & Churchill came in until now everyone here is madly for England except the extreme Right (Lindbergh68 etc.) and the extreme Left, who still follow the C.P. line. The whole issue is somewhat obscured by the strikes in the war industries as people of liberal thought support the strikers & fear greatly that the whole war program will fall into the hands of reactionaries like Knudsen69 & Stettinius70—& Willkie, Susan—& that America will evolve its own brand of Fascism, thus making the whole war lose its point from their point of view. The Durrs & most of the people I know here think that at the present time in Washington there is great dissatisfaction with Roosevelt for not moving fast enough, & also for putting Republicans & big business people in key positions. Part of the trouble is that here, as in England, people all want to fight for different things; some for the supremacy of the British Empire & America, some for the destruction of Fascism. Very few people follow Lindbergh, who is considered a dangerous defeatist. Americans on the whole talk as though they were already in the war, & all think it will be only a matter of months before they are….
Do tell the Fem & Male’s form re the war, of course I never mention it when writing to Muv for fear she will say something which would put one off speakers. Also do tell how Boud is now, Debo was simply beastly about her in some of her letters. I hope marriage will make her nicer. I never met Andrew, he looks rather nice in his pictures, I expect he will get Hon-pecked….
I’ll send you some photos of the baby, she is such a marvel & a wonderful friend & companion. Do you think Constancia is a nice name? No one calls her that, she is called the Donk. Were you amazed when she was born, or did you hear I was having one?
Do write again Susan. Give Rodd my love….
Best Love, Susan
To Esmond Romilly
Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
June 26, 1941
Darling Cn,
I was so miserable when you left but now feel as though I was recovering from an illness, better each day—I’m going back tomorrow.71 A wire came for Selden saying “where in the world is Decca, please advise by Western Union, Virginia Durr” (typical phrasing), so I called her up just now & she read me your wire.72 She thought I’d been sex-murdered by the Washington Fiend. The Donk is very well, I’m longing to see her.73
I’ve got the most wonderful plan for the summer, I do hope you won’t think it [a] complete waste of time & dough: apparently there is a v. good summer school of journalism at the Columbia University starting around July 5th. … I know I would enjoy it much more than just hanging around … so do be pro it. I know you usually think that sort of thing is useless but I don’t think it would be to me. It takes about 7 weeks & sounds fascinating…. It seems to me just the thing I was wanting & you know how the Man would love to be all punch packing off in New York, perhaps in some amazing boarding house uptown near the university. Do write at once if you agree & I’ll be planning for it. Then I’d feel much more confident about a possible Post job, but even if I didn’t do that in the end it would be a marvellous way of spending the summer….
I’m simply longing for a letter telling me about your journey (I’m sure it was beastly) so do write all news….
Goodbye darling old Boot, yr slip adores you.
Love from Decca
To Esmond Romilly
Alexandria
August 1, 1941
My Darling Cn,
I was absolutely thrilled to get your letter & cable today, they arrived together & have made the whole difference to Man life and morale, you must admit that a month was quite a long time not to hear but I hope you’ll discount any worried or whiney tone in my other letters. The Man won’t be like that any more. Your letters were simply swell, specially arriving together as they did so that the better part of the boat trip & officerishness came after the bad part. … Oh going to the Savoy eh? So that’s your idea of the way to spend your time in War Torn Europe. Is that your permanent address from now on? If not let me know The descriptions of the other people & goings on were so
fascinating….
My news isn’t much as I’ve been here all the time & looking after the Donk (she gets one string bean for lunch now which I cook for her in greaseproof paper as I refuse to give her canned food) & waiting to hear that you had arrived….
Now old bird, re the Slippery schedule: in case you haven’t yet got my letter telling about it, I have a good chance of getting a place on a lend-lease bomber and coming to England. Of course this is what I should adore to do (tho I wouldn’t dream of doing so unless you are all for it). If we do decide that I shall come, I think it should be fairly soon on account of the second piker74 (which doesn’t show at all at present, & of course no one knows about it except you; I figure it is due about the 13th March, & so is now under 2 months gone). I mean I think it would be more difficult to get a passage if I was huge. Old Bird I do so want to come so do be pro it, tho if you are not I have packed my punch to no good effect & am tentatively arranging a) to go to NY in August to view the prospects & b) to drive to San Francisco with the Mainwarings….
I do think the war has become much more exciting if not to say worthwhile since June 22nd,75 so therefore to come to England would be quite as punch packing as any other scheme or more so. So what say, old Boot? And I know you think of the Man as one who relies on good food & lighting up but do admit that is not really its form. However the whole decision is yours & whatever happens don’t worry about it, but just say what you really think because I will be terrifically all right & happy whatever we decide….
Well darling the Man sends all its love, & is so happy to know at last where you are.
Do write a mass more—Your adoring Slip
To Esmond Romilly
Staunton, Va.
August 16–19, 1941
Darling Bird,
This is going to be the day-to-day Man’s trip through the South76 & I’ll post it when I get near some envelopes etc. We’re staying tonight in a tourist home at Staunton Va.
First of all it seemed all funny to be off with the Mainwaringmen & not to see the old Browner Bed blowing in the wind at the wheel & cr-r-raning forth to read the Burma Shave ads, however the Man has now realised the Boot is definitely not along & is planning to enjoy itself just the same. I must admit the Ms are amazingly dull tho quite nice…. I’m looking forward a lot to getting down to the Highlander School77 & to Birmingham etc & seeing some other people.
Sunday. We got down into the TVA78 country today, it is v. beautiful & has a look of quiet prosperity quite unlike the parts of Tenn., Ga, Ala etc that we went through. I can see the Ms are going to be interested in electric turbines etc & insist on long detours to be sure not to miss any TVA dams.
Monday. Rather an amazing day. Before I left I went to see the Dr in Alexandria as I had a sort of suspicion something was up with the 2nd piker. He examined me & said he thought I was pregnant but couldn’t be sure, so I told him I thought it might be miscarrying & he said that if so I wouldn’t be able to stop it at such an early stage unless I went to bed for months, & that it wouldn’t do any harm to go on the trip anyway as it wouldn’t make any difference & a miscarriage at this stage is never bad. Then today I definitely did miscarry it.79 I do hope old Bird you won’t be disappointed or think it v. careless of me not to scram to bed. I was awfully annoyed at first specially as it would have been such heaven to have 2 such tiny men nearly the same age; the whole thing is awfully disappointing, but now it has actually happened & the only thing to do is just forget it was ever up & pack one’s punch accordingly. Thank goodness Va & everyone didn’t know about it. I can’t understand why it should have happened & am going to Dr. Willson as soon as I get back, you must say it’s very unlike me.
Tuesday lunch time. I feel quite alright again now & not all shaken up as I was yesterday. I do hope you don’t mind about it darling because I honestly don’t now. We are now cutting & running for the Highlander where I hope there’ll be some mail. The Slipper will certainly be cheering the day it gets a letter from you. I know some must be on the way by now, but probably won’t arrive till the end of the month.
Tues. night. We just got to the Highlander & I must say it is a fascinating place. There are people here from all over the country (e.g. a girl of 18 from the Mississippi textile mills who organised a union single handed in her mill, where they were only getting $6 a week) & only the best are sent as it costs the union $100. It is rather narst in a way being a visitor as the other visitors are a horrid old woman called Dr. Vessel & her scrawny Nevilly son who I kept calling Horst by mistake. She keeps saying “are you really interested in labour dear?”; which is v. embarrassing.
Later. I just got your telegram forwarded by Va, old Bird you were sweet to wire so soon about it & of course I absolutely agree with the form of me staying here for the present.80 The reason I kept on so in all my letters is I had a feeling you might not get some of them & wanted you to be quite clear as to my idea. I do wish now too that I hadn’t written so much about the 2nd piker because now you will think I wanted it terrifically, tho actually being only a 2 monther the idea of it was completely shadowy & the Donk would always make up for anything like that. She has changed so much since you saw her & is almost at the stage of being a real person. I must mail this now old Bird & write again soon.
Your Loving Man
To Nancy Mitford
Alexandria
September 5, 1941
Darling Susan,
… I got yr letter, it simply scrammed here. I think the posts are getting much better. I’m so glad the onions arrived, but I was furious because I got lots of other things & then it made the parcel too heavy (you can only send 5 lbs) so they had to be taken out. …
Washington is quite depressing in some ways as everywhere you go people talk of nothing but the inefficiency of the Defense Program (that is the war effort, but they still call it the defense program so as not to tease the isolationists too much). Almost every article you read is about the terrific shortages of everything & no one seems to have any plan to solve it. The morale everywhere is simply terrific81 —the other day all the papers were full of a story about men deliberately getting syph so they would be unfit for the army, & this reached such a pitch that the army has now decided to take people with venereal disease in the primary stages & cure them of it! Rather a tease on those who got it.
Last month I went down to Tennessee & spent some time at a labour school down there where they train union organisers. The staff are all very left wing & so are some of the students, but there is a very noticeable isolationist current & Russia being in the war doesn’t seem to have made much difference. The school is of course entirely run for the unions, so there isn’t much stress laid on politics except as it affects labour (anti-strike legislation etc.) & whenever the war was mentioned the impression seemed to be that it was only the business interests that wanted to get America involved. I spent most of my time there pointing out that in England things had been exactly the other way round & the anti-appeasement forces, before the war anyway, came almost entirely from the Left; but then they couldn’t understand how a Tory government could still be in power. I can see the issues would have to be much more clear for American labour to become really interventionist, & anyway most of them, even the very militant ones, don’t think much beyond getting better conditions for workers etc. I think the fundamental reason is that there is no political labour party here & no strong socialist party. For instance I was amazed that Russia coming in caused no enthusiasm at all except from a military point of view; people were pleased that the Nazis had another enemy to occupy them but there were no mass meetings or demonstrations.
The various “incidents,” like the sinking of the Robin Moor82 etc tho played up terrifically in the press haven’t stirred people up much, I suppose they note what happened when people got so stirred up over the Lusitania.83
Do you think people in England note all this about America? I keep seeing articles saying the English are “shocked” & “disappointed” etc at the lack of American interest, & it’s quite true there is not much interest except among all-out supporters of the Administration. At least, not much pro-war feeling. All my best friends in Washington are very pro-war but they are all Administration people, & it’s only when you get away from here that you realise how the other groups feel….
Do write soon. Give my love to the young Hen, I hear she is broody….
Good boosan—Your afec, Sue
P.S. Do you ever see Cord84 in the clink or are you still off speakers?
To Esmond Romilly
Alexandria
September 7, 1941
Darlingest Bird,
… In the U.S…. [t]he only thing one sees, day in & day out in every newspaper & mag is criticism of the defense program & every group accusing the others of selfishness & lack of patriotism & low morale. Cafe Society taking up the V campaign (V shaped hats, brooches & chorus girls’ spangles etc) is about the only sign of war enthusiasm! …
I’ve decided that if I’m staying in the U.S. for some time stenography is essential to get out of the salesgirl-refined type English upper class lending tone rut, so I know you won’t be anti me doing it. Of course it would mean I’ll end up doing 200 words a minute in some dull office, but it will make possible several fascinating type jobs that you just can’t get without it. I shall stay here till I’m through the stenog course anyway. Daniels now adores the Donk so much she can hardly bear to take her day off, so she will look after her for me, much better than going to NY & getting some girl who would probably put the Donk’s head in a gas oven to get her off to sleep, which happened to a baby Va knew & destroyed its brain cells. (Tra la la silly Man, of course I shall go to NY if I can’t find anything good here, but I do adore being with the Durrs, we get on so well.) …
Do write more about the Toynbee85 ménage & any other people you see—does ordinary Mrs. R86 know you are back? Awful Croat I know she won’t find out for years & will then be simply furious—but yet forgiving, for who could refuse to forgive one who had chosen the Highest Calling of all, service of his country? …
Monday Kay & Phil came to see the donk & we all went off to Sister’s63 At Home. When we arrived there was Sister & the gaunt figure of Lady Halifax.64 We all sat round very stiffly in a circle & by mistake I found myself ensconced on a love-seat type sofa next to Lady H. Apparently Sister & Va were absolutely terrified I should say something untoward, but of course I didn’t, (except to point out (when everyone was saying how brave of Lady H to stay in London through the bombings) that she was probably in very little danger as it was only the badly built East End houses that suffered much damage). When Lady H left everyone except me stood up, & we all drew a deep breath & things became rather pleasant….
Old Bird you don’t know how I’m looking forward to next weekend—if you can’t get permission to come to the US can I come up there anyway? Let me know in plenty of time which train you’re coming on….
Best love, Yr adoring Slipper
To Lady Redesdale
Toronto
April 9, 1941
Darling Muv,
I just got your letter of 18th March, so considering Virginnie had to forward it here65 it arrived amazingly quickly. It says in the papers that no mail arriving this side has been lost, but a good deal is lost going to England, so you probably don’t get half my letters.
Do write more news of Henderson’s engagement—did you all know she was engaged or did she keep it secret? Why did they have to wait till Andrew was 21? It must have been awful for them. Do write every detail of the wedding66 etc & tell what Andrew is like apart from speaking indistinctly & being tall & thin! …
We came up here about 2 weeks ago, the baby in a basket which she lives in; the journey wasn’t at all bad & there was a v. nice (black) Pullman porter who rocked the Donk off to sleep & was wonderful to her. He said he was the eldest of 12 children & knew all about babies. She gets bathed in a large saucepan as I thought I was only coming for the weekend & didn’t bring her bath. We are living in a very nice little flat & Esmond comes up 1 day in 4 so it’s well worth it.
The Donk is getting awfully fat & pretty. Someone lent me a pram so I take her out every day.
I don’t like Canada at all, it seems to me like an awful copy of America, & the people are horrid. They are very anti English & anti American but vastly inferior to both. I expect it was quite different where you were,67 & Esmond says the West is fairly nice where the people are more of Central European rather than English extraction….
There are several English refugees here & I really feel sorry for them (tho not for those in America as they are very well treated & anyway America is such heaven)….
Well I must scram now, give my love to all the others….
Best Love From Decca
To Nancy Mitford
Alexandria
May 20, 1941
Darling Sue,
I just got your letter of 24th April, so it didn’t take long. Do write a lot, I long to hear all the inner form & Susan you see letters DON’T get sunk if one WRITES them, admit?
Yes, I do worry a lot about you all, not so much from the point of view of getting killed as not having enough to eat & having a v. narst time in general. Do say if you’d like things sent, I’ll send some anyway next time I go to Washington but say if it’s any good & what are the best things.
This is the American form re England: when the war first started there was still a very anti-English sentiment among all but the most reactionary on account of Munich, & the fact Chamberlain was still heading the govt. This feeling gradually swung round as the war intensified & Churchill came in until now everyone here is madly for England except the extreme Right (Lindbergh68 etc.) and the extreme Left, who still follow the C.P. line. The whole issue is somewhat obscured by the strikes in the war industries as people of liberal thought support the strikers & fear greatly that the whole war program will fall into the hands of reactionaries like Knudsen69 & Stettinius70—& Willkie, Susan—& that America will evolve its own brand of Fascism, thus making the whole war lose its point from their point of view. The Durrs & most of the people I know here think that at the present time in Washington there is great dissatisfaction with Roosevelt for not moving fast enough, & also for putting Republicans & big business people in key positions. Part of the trouble is that here, as in England, people all want to fight for different things; some for the supremacy of the British Empire & America, some for the destruction of Fascism. Very few people follow Lindbergh, who is considered a dangerous defeatist. Americans on the whole talk as though they were already in the war, & all think it will be only a matter of months before they are….
Do tell the Fem & Male’s form re the war, of course I never mention it when writing to Muv for fear she will say something which would put one off speakers. Also do tell how Boud is now, Debo was simply beastly about her in some of her letters. I hope marriage will make her nicer. I never met Andrew, he looks rather nice in his pictures, I expect he will get Hon-pecked….
I’ll send you some photos of the baby, she is such a marvel & a wonderful friend & companion. Do you think Constancia is a nice name? No one calls her that, she is called the Donk. Were you amazed when she was born, or did you hear I was having one?
Do write again Susan. Give Rodd my love….
Best Love, Susan
To Esmond Romilly
Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
June 26, 1941
Darling Cn,
I was so miserable when you left but now feel as though I was recovering from an illness, better each day—I’m going back tomorrow.71 A wire came for Selden saying “where in the world is Decca, please advise by Western Union, Virginia Durr” (typical phrasing), so I called her up just now & she read me your wire.72 She thought I’d been sex-murdered by the Washington Fiend. The Donk is very well, I’m longing to see her.73
I’ve got the most wonderful plan for the summer, I do hope you won’t think it [a] complete waste of time & dough: apparently there is a v. good summer school of journalism at the Columbia University starting around July 5th. … I know I would enjoy it much more than just hanging around … so do be pro it. I know you usually think that sort of thing is useless but I don’t think it would be to me. It takes about 7 weeks & sounds fascinating…. It seems to me just the thing I was wanting & you know how the Man would love to be all punch packing off in New York, perhaps in some amazing boarding house uptown near the university. Do write at once if you agree & I’ll be planning for it. Then I’d feel much more confident about a possible Post job, but even if I didn’t do that in the end it would be a marvellous way of spending the summer….
I’m simply longing for a letter telling me about your journey (I’m sure it was beastly) so do write all news….
Goodbye darling old Boot, yr slip adores you.
Love from Decca
To Esmond Romilly
Alexandria
August 1, 1941
My Darling Cn,
I was absolutely thrilled to get your letter & cable today, they arrived together & have made the whole difference to Man life and morale, you must admit that a month was quite a long time not to hear but I hope you’ll discount any worried or whiney tone in my other letters. The Man won’t be like that any more. Your letters were simply swell, specially arriving together as they did so that the better part of the boat trip & officerishness came after the bad part. … Oh going to the Savoy eh? So that’s your idea of the way to spend your time in War Torn Europe. Is that your permanent address from now on? If not let me know The descriptions of the other people & goings on were so
fascinating….
My news isn’t much as I’ve been here all the time & looking after the Donk (she gets one string bean for lunch now which I cook for her in greaseproof paper as I refuse to give her canned food) & waiting to hear that you had arrived….
Now old bird, re the Slippery schedule: in case you haven’t yet got my letter telling about it, I have a good chance of getting a place on a lend-lease bomber and coming to England. Of course this is what I should adore to do (tho I wouldn’t dream of doing so unless you are all for it). If we do decide that I shall come, I think it should be fairly soon on account of the second piker74 (which doesn’t show at all at present, & of course no one knows about it except you; I figure it is due about the 13th March, & so is now under 2 months gone). I mean I think it would be more difficult to get a passage if I was huge. Old Bird I do so want to come so do be pro it, tho if you are not I have packed my punch to no good effect & am tentatively arranging a) to go to NY in August to view the prospects & b) to drive to San Francisco with the Mainwarings….
I do think the war has become much more exciting if not to say worthwhile since June 22nd,75 so therefore to come to England would be quite as punch packing as any other scheme or more so. So what say, old Boot? And I know you think of the Man as one who relies on good food & lighting up but do admit that is not really its form. However the whole decision is yours & whatever happens don’t worry about it, but just say what you really think because I will be terrifically all right & happy whatever we decide….
Well darling the Man sends all its love, & is so happy to know at last where you are.
Do write a mass more—Your adoring Slip
To Esmond Romilly
Staunton, Va.
August 16–19, 1941
Darling Bird,
This is going to be the day-to-day Man’s trip through the South76 & I’ll post it when I get near some envelopes etc. We’re staying tonight in a tourist home at Staunton Va.
First of all it seemed all funny to be off with the Mainwaringmen & not to see the old Browner Bed blowing in the wind at the wheel & cr-r-raning forth to read the Burma Shave ads, however the Man has now realised the Boot is definitely not along & is planning to enjoy itself just the same. I must admit the Ms are amazingly dull tho quite nice…. I’m looking forward a lot to getting down to the Highlander School77 & to Birmingham etc & seeing some other people.
Sunday. We got down into the TVA78 country today, it is v. beautiful & has a look of quiet prosperity quite unlike the parts of Tenn., Ga, Ala etc that we went through. I can see the Ms are going to be interested in electric turbines etc & insist on long detours to be sure not to miss any TVA dams.
Monday. Rather an amazing day. Before I left I went to see the Dr in Alexandria as I had a sort of suspicion something was up with the 2nd piker. He examined me & said he thought I was pregnant but couldn’t be sure, so I told him I thought it might be miscarrying & he said that if so I wouldn’t be able to stop it at such an early stage unless I went to bed for months, & that it wouldn’t do any harm to go on the trip anyway as it wouldn’t make any difference & a miscarriage at this stage is never bad. Then today I definitely did miscarry it.79 I do hope old Bird you won’t be disappointed or think it v. careless of me not to scram to bed. I was awfully annoyed at first specially as it would have been such heaven to have 2 such tiny men nearly the same age; the whole thing is awfully disappointing, but now it has actually happened & the only thing to do is just forget it was ever up & pack one’s punch accordingly. Thank goodness Va & everyone didn’t know about it. I can’t understand why it should have happened & am going to Dr. Willson as soon as I get back, you must say it’s very unlike me.
Tuesday lunch time. I feel quite alright again now & not all shaken up as I was yesterday. I do hope you don’t mind about it darling because I honestly don’t now. We are now cutting & running for the Highlander where I hope there’ll be some mail. The Slipper will certainly be cheering the day it gets a letter from you. I know some must be on the way by now, but probably won’t arrive till the end of the month.
Tues. night. We just got to the Highlander & I must say it is a fascinating place. There are people here from all over the country (e.g. a girl of 18 from the Mississippi textile mills who organised a union single handed in her mill, where they were only getting $6 a week) & only the best are sent as it costs the union $100. It is rather narst in a way being a visitor as the other visitors are a horrid old woman called Dr. Vessel & her scrawny Nevilly son who I kept calling Horst by mistake. She keeps saying “are you really interested in labour dear?”; which is v. embarrassing.
Later. I just got your telegram forwarded by Va, old Bird you were sweet to wire so soon about it & of course I absolutely agree with the form of me staying here for the present.80 The reason I kept on so in all my letters is I had a feeling you might not get some of them & wanted you to be quite clear as to my idea. I do wish now too that I hadn’t written so much about the 2nd piker because now you will think I wanted it terrifically, tho actually being only a 2 monther the idea of it was completely shadowy & the Donk would always make up for anything like that. She has changed so much since you saw her & is almost at the stage of being a real person. I must mail this now old Bird & write again soon.
Your Loving Man
To Nancy Mitford
Alexandria
September 5, 1941
Darling Susan,
… I got yr letter, it simply scrammed here. I think the posts are getting much better. I’m so glad the onions arrived, but I was furious because I got lots of other things & then it made the parcel too heavy (you can only send 5 lbs) so they had to be taken out. …
Washington is quite depressing in some ways as everywhere you go people talk of nothing but the inefficiency of the Defense Program (that is the war effort, but they still call it the defense program so as not to tease the isolationists too much). Almost every article you read is about the terrific shortages of everything & no one seems to have any plan to solve it. The morale everywhere is simply terrific81 —the other day all the papers were full of a story about men deliberately getting syph so they would be unfit for the army, & this reached such a pitch that the army has now decided to take people with venereal disease in the primary stages & cure them of it! Rather a tease on those who got it.
Last month I went down to Tennessee & spent some time at a labour school down there where they train union organisers. The staff are all very left wing & so are some of the students, but there is a very noticeable isolationist current & Russia being in the war doesn’t seem to have made much difference. The school is of course entirely run for the unions, so there isn’t much stress laid on politics except as it affects labour (anti-strike legislation etc.) & whenever the war was mentioned the impression seemed to be that it was only the business interests that wanted to get America involved. I spent most of my time there pointing out that in England things had been exactly the other way round & the anti-appeasement forces, before the war anyway, came almost entirely from the Left; but then they couldn’t understand how a Tory government could still be in power. I can see the issues would have to be much more clear for American labour to become really interventionist, & anyway most of them, even the very militant ones, don’t think much beyond getting better conditions for workers etc. I think the fundamental reason is that there is no political labour party here & no strong socialist party. For instance I was amazed that Russia coming in caused no enthusiasm at all except from a military point of view; people were pleased that the Nazis had another enemy to occupy them but there were no mass meetings or demonstrations.
The various “incidents,” like the sinking of the Robin Moor82 etc tho played up terrifically in the press haven’t stirred people up much, I suppose they note what happened when people got so stirred up over the Lusitania.83
Do you think people in England note all this about America? I keep seeing articles saying the English are “shocked” & “disappointed” etc at the lack of American interest, & it’s quite true there is not much interest except among all-out supporters of the Administration. At least, not much pro-war feeling. All my best friends in Washington are very pro-war but they are all Administration people, & it’s only when you get away from here that you realise how the other groups feel….
Do write soon. Give my love to the young Hen, I hear she is broody….
Good boosan—Your afec, Sue
P.S. Do you ever see Cord84 in the clink or are you still off speakers?
To Esmond Romilly
Alexandria
September 7, 1941
Darlingest Bird,
… In the U.S…. [t]he only thing one sees, day in & day out in every newspaper & mag is criticism of the defense program & every group accusing the others of selfishness & lack of patriotism & low morale. Cafe Society taking up the V campaign (V shaped hats, brooches & chorus girls’ spangles etc) is about the only sign of war enthusiasm! …
I’ve decided that if I’m staying in the U.S. for some time stenography is essential to get out of the salesgirl-refined type English upper class lending tone rut, so I know you won’t be anti me doing it. Of course it would mean I’ll end up doing 200 words a minute in some dull office, but it will make possible several fascinating type jobs that you just can’t get without it. I shall stay here till I’m through the stenog course anyway. Daniels now adores the Donk so much she can hardly bear to take her day off, so she will look after her for me, much better than going to NY & getting some girl who would probably put the Donk’s head in a gas oven to get her off to sleep, which happened to a baby Va knew & destroyed its brain cells. (Tra la la silly Man, of course I shall go to NY if I can’t find anything good here, but I do adore being with the Durrs, we get on so well.) …
Do write more about the Toynbee85 ménage & any other people you see—does ordinary Mrs. R86 know you are back? Awful Croat I know she won’t find out for years & will then be simply furious—but yet forgiving, for who could refuse to forgive one who had chosen the Highest Calling of all, service of his country? …
