With best love,
EM Forster
* * *
as from
9-9-35
West Hackhurst,
Abinger Hammer,
Dorking.
Dear Christopher,
Perhaps I rather overdid ignorance and vagueness when ringing up your mother, still I think she was glad to hear.36 Then we went to Birmingham, but very indignant as the promised car had not been insured and Bob dare not handle it. By the Monday—that is to say last Monday—
the insurance had been fixed up and we motored off to Devonshire, that doubtful county. I enjoyed myself there as much as I have ever, and took my part in outdoor sports. The red sandstone, the abundance of characters pal-zeik-01 4/21/08 10:51 AM Page 46
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and absence of character, displeased Keats and never please me, still the place was as good as possible, and the drive through Dorsetshire superb. I saw the Cerne Giant for the first time. What an affair! The very reverse of that deplorable photo. Heinz could find nothing to complain of and Bob was reduced to a series of reverent exclamations. It’s on such a lovely hill-side too. From Sidmouth (to complete this pointilliste rendering) we returned to London. Today Bob has gone to see his wife. I am stopping with him for a couple of nights more, since my flat is lent. He was very pleased to receive Heinz’s letter. How very well it is written[;] he is making grand progress. I think you did realise how very much we both like Heinz.
As for Amsterdam, my only objection to it is that I had no time there whatever alone with you. There was nothing I wanted to imbibe or impart, still it would have been an additional enjoyment. After all, we are both of us writers, and good ones.
I will write again. This is really to thank you for all your kindness—you did do no end, courier, etc. and manoeuvring lady over [our?] room. I want to hear your plans. If you go to Belgium I might go that way into France at the end of the year and see you both again.
With love to you, also to Heinz,
Morgan
Stephen [Spender] has been seen by Wm Plomer, not by me so far.
* * *
Villa Alecrim do Norte, San Pedro, Sintra, Portugal.
21st Dec. 1935.
Dear Morgan,
I have been meaning to write to you ever since I left London because Bob, who very kindly put in an appearance at the station, told me that you weren’t well and I have been worried, wondering if perhaps it wasn’t something serious. I do hope you are better now. As you see, we have arrived here. We have taken quite a nice little house on the hill above the town on a three months lease. Could you possibly come and visit us, do you think?
The voyage might do you good and the weather here is said to be lovely in January. You would like this place very much indeed I am sure. There are all kinds of old palaces and ruins to be seen and dozens of excursions to make.
I think we might quite possibly settle in this country if we can find the right house and if Heinz can get a reasonable assurance that he will be allowed to stop here indefinitely. In many ways it seems quite ideal.
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I hope you have a nice Christmas. Please give my love to Bob.
Best love,
Christopher
[handwritten postscripts:]
Got a nice letter from Bob[,] will write him later.
Many greetings to you both [from] Heinz
Greetings & love to yourself, Bob, and all—Tony
Love and best wishes for Christmas and the New Year from Stephen
* * *
Villa Alecrim do Norte
January 15. [1936]
Sao Pedro
Sintra.
Dear Morgan,
I was so sorry to hear from Bob about your operation and that the trouble isn’t cleared up yet.37 It is so tiresome and miserable for you and I expect you haven’t been feeling well for ages, although, typically, you never said anything about it when I saw you last. But now I do hope they will be able to deal with it once and for all and that, by the Spring, you’ll be well on the way to recovery. I have been thinking a great deal about you lately—we all have—and the others all send their best wishes.
The weather here is obscene, but we enjoy ourselves, as there is lots to do. The animals in our household multiply daily. We have now Teddy, the dog and the fowls (six hens and a cock) and two white rabbits and today a kitten has arrived. It is very savage and we are all afraid of it. Whenever any of us goes near it[,] it makes a curious booming noise like a foghorn. Heinz has just clipped its claws.
Stephen and I write a good deal; Tony keeps the household accounts.38
He also deals with the two servants, as he is the only one of us who speaks Portuguese—that hideous language: (No More, for instance, is “Naow Mash”: “Naow” should be pronounced with the maximum cockney
accent.) Like all Latin households, the kitchen is a club-room, always crammed with people who chatter and laugh until far into the night. The meals are quite good, however. Stephen’s brother, Humphrey is here. Heinz has just persuaded him to shave off all his hair (to make it grow better) and today the act has been performed. Humphrey is now ashamed to appear in public without a beret.
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There are some very peculiar neighbours here. One lady believes in fairies and has prepared an authentic map of fairy-land. Another has had a lot of reincarnations. Her first was as a Syrian lad who fell in with some Roman soldiers who, believe it or not, behaved no better than other soldiers. She is said to have described all her misadventures in a book which she shows to very intimate friends. I have wasted a great deal of time trying to become intimate—so far without success. Tomorrow, we are to be received by one of the leaders of Sintra fashion, a woman named Lady Carrick: we are a little nervous, as usually at Lady Carrick’s house they have charades and Stephen is afraid that Tony may be asked to take a female role and give a too convincing performance.
You would love the palace of Pena, which is right on the top of the hilclass="underline" it is built in all possible styles and on the opposite hill is a statue of the nineteenth century architect in full mediaeval costume. There is a view over half Portugal when the weather is fine. But as soon as you’re better you must certainly come here and see it all for yourself.
I wonder how soon your book is coming out. I am longing for that.
William may have told you that he and I are making an appearance in a magazine-book edited by John Lehmann called New Writing. It is said to be going to be published at the end of March by John Lane.
Don’t answer this, of course: just tell Bob to send me a card some time.
I was so grateful to him for sending news. And get better soon.
Best love,
Christopher
* * *
23-2-36
West Hackhurst,
Abinger Hammer,
Dorking.
Dear Christopher,
I think I had better answer your letter, as it increases my chance of getting another one. It was collected with a letter which William had received from Stephen, and the standard of accuracy in Portugal proved surprisingly high. I hope that the reincarnations proceed apace and that the animals also breed nicely. How is the clipped kitten? Micky, one of the pair here, had just killed an elderly pigeon named Mr Pompous, and public feeling ran so high that it was thought he too ought to be clipped. But no one knew how to do it. Heinz couldn’t be got at, and public feeling has died down.
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Yes, I never told you I wasn’t well when we parted. There seemed so much to say and I was so happy seeing you. I am to go back into the Nursing Home on Wednesday, when I hope they may think me fit enough to have the main operation. I haven’t had any pain or even been much bored or depressed. I have wondered why. Sometimes I decide it is because I have a great mind and have Won Through, at others “No, merely idle.” My book, Abinger Harvest, comes out next month. It is dedicated to the people who helped me to put it together—to William chiefly, but to you too. So you’ll get a copy! I’ve just got a copy of John Simpson’s Family Curse. I think well of it. Shall I send you my extra copy? I have one.