I have just come back from Littlehampton, where I spent Sunday with
George and his sister. The Housmans were asked and Housman went, but Mrs
Housman was not well. I start on Thursday morning and shall be in Paris
Thursday night and stay there till Monday. Let us do something amusing.
I should like to go to the play one night. But you have probably seen
all the best things hundreds of times. I am going on co Florence on
Monday. I don't think George has seen much of Mrs Housman. I dined there
last Wednesday. Mrs Housman sang the whole evening so that he did not
get any talk with her. Godfrey has been much more cheerful lately and
even suggested going to a music-hall one night. Mrs Campion is coming
to Florence too.
I'm sorry I've been so bad about writing lately. I seem to have had no
time and yet to have done nothing, and there have been a series of
rather tiresome episodes at the office.
Au revoir till Thursday,
Yours,
G.
_From the Diary of Godfrey Mellor_
_Monday, March_ 14_th_
A. came back from the country in a gloomy state of mind. He said it was
a great mistake to go to the country in March and that his party had
been a failure. He said bachelors should not give parties. He asked me
to dine with him, which I did. He says he is leaving on Wednesday but
will stop two nights in Paris. Mrs Campion is travelling with him.
_Tuesday, March_ 15_th._
Mrs Housman rang up on the telephone and told me that a young vocalist
was dining with them to-morrow night. She wanted a few people to hear
her. Would I come? Solway was coming.
Dined with Cunninghame at his Club. He says he has never seen A. so
depressed.
_Wednesday, March_ 16_th._
Dined with the Housmans. Miss Housman, Solway and Lady Jarvis were
there. The vocalist, a Miss Byfield, did not arrive till after dinner.
Mrs Housman said Miss Byfield was shy and had refused to dine at the
last moment. After dinner she sang some songs from the classical
composers. She was extremely nervous. Mrs Housman and Solway say she has
promise. Housman said to me confidentially that he was sure there was no
money in her. The Housmans leave to-morrow. A. left to-day.
_Thursday, March_ 17_th._
Cunninghame left to-day. I had dinner with Lady Jarvis. She asked me to
travel with her on Saturday. We are both stopping Sunday night in Paris.
_Friday, March_ 18_th._
Lunched and dined at the Club. Packed up my things. Am taking some music
with me.
_Saturday, March_ 19_th. Paris._
Arrived at the Hôtel Saint Romain. Had a pleasant journey with Lady
Jarvis.
_Sunday, March_ 20_th._
Lady Jarvis took me to see a French friend of hers, Madame Sainton. It
was her day. There was a large crowd of men and women in the
drawing-room and the dining-room, where there was tea, Madeira and
excellent sandwiches. The French take just as much trouble about
preparing a good tea as they do to write or to dress well. I was
introduced to a famous composer, who talked to me technically about
boxing. I was obliged to confess that I knew nothing of the art. It was
a pity, I thought, Carrington-Smith was not there. I was also introduced
to a French author, who asked me what was the place of Meredith in
modern literature, what _les jeunes_ thought about him. I was obliged to
confess I had never read one line of Meredith. The French author thought
I despised him. He asked me: "Quest qu'on lit en Angleterre maintenant
avant de se coucher?" I said that I had no idea what _les jeunes_ read
but that I personally, for a bedside book, preferred _Jane Eyre_.
The French author said "_Tiens_!" He then asked me what I thought of
Bernard Shaw. I had again to confess that I had never seen his plays
acted. I told him that when I had time to spare I went to concerts. He
said: "Ah! la musique," and I felt he was generalising a whole movement
in young England towards music.
In the evening we went to the Opéra Comique and heard _Carmen_, which I
greatly enjoyed.
_Monday, March_ 21_st. Florence. Villa Fersen._
We arrived at Florence this morning. Cunninghame and A. and Mrs Campion
were in the same train. The Housmans had been there some days already.
_Tuesday, March_ 22_nd_.
Cunninghame, Mrs Housman, A. and Mrs Campion went out together. Lady
Jarvis stayed at home. I went later in the morning to the Pitti. In the
afternoon they went to Fiesole. Housman went to call on some friends.
Lady Jarvis and I went for a walk.
_Wednesday, March_ 23_rd_.
We were invited to luncheon by a Mr Eugene Lowe, a friend of Lady
Jarvis. He has a flat in the town on the Pitti side of the river. The
Housmans and Cunninghame and myself went. A. and his sister had luncheon
with the Albertis. Mr Lowe's flat had the peculiarity that everything in
it had been ingeniously diverted from its original purpose. The only
other guest besides ourselves was an ex-diplomatist whom I met last
year.
_Thursday, March_ 24_th._
Lady Jarvis has gone to Venice, where she is staying with friends until
next Monday. While we were sight-seeing this morning we met a lady
called Mrs Fairburn, who claimed to be an old friend of Mrs Housman. Mrs
Housman told me she had met her in America soon after she married, but
that she had never known her well. She asked us all to luncheon on
Saturday. Mrs Housman accepted for herself and Housman. Cunninghame and
I also accepted. A. and his sister were engaged.
In the afternoon Mrs Housman said she was going to hear a Dominican
preach. Cunninghame and I asked if we might accompany her. A. said it
was no use his going as he did not understand Italian. He was most
eloquent.
_Friday (Good Friday), March_ 25_th._
Mrs Housman spent the whole morning in church. I went with Cunninghame
for a long walk.
_Saturday, March_ 26_th._
We had luncheon with Mrs Fairburn, who has a villa on the Fiesole side.
She is a widow and always, she says, lives abroad; so much so, she told
us, that she had difficulty in speaking English correctly. She gave us
no evidence that she spoke any other language with great correctness.
She told me she was overjoyed at meeting Mrs Housman, who was her oldest
friend. Housman asked her to dinner to-morrow night.
_Sunday (Easter Sunday), March_ 27_th._
I went for a walk by myself. When I got back I found various people at
the villa and escaped to my room. Mrs Fairburn came to dinner. When
Housman said he had been suffering from a headache she exclaimed:
"_Poveretto_!" and said she was feeling-rather "_Moche_" herself.
Looking at Mrs Housman, she said to me: "She is _ravissante, che
bellezza! E vero?_"
_Letter from Guy Cunninghame to Mrs Caryl_
VILLA FERSEN, FLORENCE,
_Easter Monday, March_ 28_th._