Feb 8 Wednesday

* Woken up by a cable from McIntyre saying that all objections raised 'by so-called experts' now met.[RG]
Finished the poem, in 5 drafts – tentatively called A Love Story.
Dictionary with Alan, finishing "L"1, and a session with Laura & him on definitions of attributes.
Still lovely weather.
In the evening we went to Montauban to a drama of a stolen baby, a rich woman & a poor woman. It was a Church thing, so all the actors who were in a romantic relationship had to be relatives – (incestuous; L said) and the chief actors were the lame grocer, as a grandfather, M. Pinson's two clerks, the elder as the drunken husband, the younger as the villain. The heroine was the dressmaker the elder's clerk's wife, M me Huitre, who has in a real life (M me Perou & Beryl agree) a more sluttish household than the misère2 to which she was reduced in the play and revels in it. After we had 'grogs' at Hotel Ouest and M me Perou teased us for liking a little girl with plats3 whom she thought rather 'wet'.

Editorial Notes

1i.e. the letter 'L' eds.
2misery eds.
3plaits? i.e. braids eds.

Hands Referenced

    • Annotation: ink correction
    • Character: regular
    • Ink: black

Places Mentioned

  • Montauban

    Montauban-de-la-Bretagne, Brittany, France

  • Hotel Ouest

    Montauban, Brittany, France

People Mentioned

  • Laura

    Riding, Laura
    (1901-91) American poet. Laura Riding (née Reichenthal; then Laura Gottschalk).

  • Alan

    Hodge, Alan
    Oxford history graduate. Became close friends with LR & RG. First husband of Beryl Graves. CP & WG

  • Beryl

    Pritchard, Beryl
    daughter of Harry and Amy Pritchard, R.G.'s second wife. Formerly married to Alan Hodge. Robert and Beryl had four children: William, Lucia, Juan and Tomas. eds

  • Mme Perou

    Perou
    Madam Perou and her family who befriended RG et al at La Chevrie eds.

  • McIntyre

    McIntyre, Alfred R.
    president of Little, Brown & Co. (publishers) eds.

  • M. Pinson

    Pinson, Monsieur
    lawyer in Montauban, France who handled the rental agreement for La Chevrie eds.

Bibliography

    • Title: Dictionary [projected project; unfinished]
    • Author: Riding, Laura
    • Date: 1935
    • Title: A Love Story [poem]
    • Title: No More Ghosts [1940]
    • Author: Graves, Robert
    • PubPlace: London
    • Publisher: Faber & Faber
    • Idno: A50
    • Date: 1939-02-04