_From the Diary of Godfrey Mellor_
_Monday, March_ 8_th_.
A. asked me whether if I was free on Thursday I would dine with him. I
said f would be pleased to. He said he would try and get a few people.
_Tuesday, March_ 9_th_.
A. has got a Secretary called Tuke. He writes all his private letters
and he comes down to the office in the mornings. This morning he came
and asked me Mrs Housman's address. It is curious that he should have
applied to me and not to C., as I was not here when she called, nor does
A. know that I know her. How can he have known that I know her?
_Wednesday, March_ 10_th_.
Dined with Cunninghame last night at his flat. The guests were Mr and
Mrs Shamier, Miss Macdonald, C.'s cousin, M. Lavroff, a Russian, and a
Miss Hope. I sat between the Russian and Miss Macdonald. Miss Macdonald
is an elderly lady, kind and agreeable. Mr Shamier, M.P., was once, I
believe, an athlete, a cricket Blue. Miss Hope looked as if she were in
fancy dress; Lavroff, the Russian, is unkempt, with thick eyebrows and
dark eyes. Tolstoy was mentioned at dinner. Mrs Shamier said he was her
favourite novelist, upon which Lavroff became greatly excited and said
the day would come when, the world would perceive and be ashamed of
itself for perceiving that Tolstoy was not worthy to lick Dostoyevsky's
boots. Being asked my opinion I was obliged to confess that I had read
the works of neither novelist. Miss Macdonald asked me who was my
favourite novelist. I said Charlotte Brontë. She said she shared my
preference and couldn't read Russian books, they depressed her. After
dinner we had some music. Miss Hope sang and accompanied herself. She
sang songs by Fauré and Hahn; among others _La Prison_. She altered the
text of the last line, and instead of singing "Qu'as tu fait de ta
jeunesse?" she rendered it--"Qu'as tu fait dans ta jeunesse?": scarcely
an improvement. When she had finished Lavroff was asked to play. He
consented immediately and played some folk songs. Although he is in no
sense a pianist, they were beautifully played.
_Thursday, March_ 11_th_.
Had dinner last night with Admiral Bowes in Hyde Park Gardens. The only
people there besides myself were Colonel Hamley and Grayson, who is,
they say, a rising M.P. The Admiral said his nephew, Bowes in the F.O.
(whom I know a little), had become a Roman Catholic.
"What on earth made him do that?" said Colonel Hamley.
"Got hold of by the priests," said the Admiral; and they all echoed the
phrase: "Got hold of by the priests" and passed on to other topics.
I have often wondered what the process of being "got hold of by the
priests" consists of, and where and how it happens.
_Friday, March_ 12_th_.
Dined last night with A. at his flat. I was surprised to meet Mr and Mrs
Housman. The hostess was A.'s sister, Mrs Campion. She is a deal older
than he is, a widow and good company. There was also a Mrs Braham, and a
younger man called Clive. He is in a bank and is, I believe, a useful
man in a sailing boat.