Don't forget the tablecloths.
Yours,
Guy.
_From the Diary of Godfrey Mellor_
_Monday, March_ 1_st_.
I dined last night with the Housmans, They were alone except for Solway,
and after dinner we had some music. Solway played the Schumann
Variations and then he asked Mrs Housman to sing. I hadn't heard her for
a long time as she hardly ever will sing now. She sang _Willst du dein
Herz mir schenken_. Solway says the song isn't by Bach really but by his
nephew. Then she sang a song from Purcell's _Dido_, some Schubert; among
others, _Wer nie sein Brot_, and the _Junge Nonne_. Solway said he had
never heard the last better sung. Housman then asked her to sing a song
from _The Merry Widow_, which she did.
Housman plays himself by ear.
She did not allude to having been at the office, nor did I.
_Tuesday, March_ 2_nd_.
Dined with Cunninghame at his flat last night. A comfortable and
luxurious abode. I asked him if Ayton was likely to marry. He laughed.
He said he had been in love for years, with a Mrs Shamier. I had never
heard of her. Cunninghame said she was clever and accomplished, and had
been very pretty and painted by all the painters.
He says A. will never marry. I asked him if Mrs Shamier was in London.
He said of course. She has a husband who is in Parliament, and several
children; a country house on the south coast; but they are not
particularly well off.
"You must come and meet her at dinner," he said. "I am devoted to her."