Enclosing ridiculous letter from Hettie Skeen, trying to fake literary awareness. Is almost well from her cold. Will dine at the Knopfs' on Monday with Myra Hess, pianist. "Claude" still selling well. New edition of April Twilights beautifully and expensively done. Willie [Stout #668]
Gladly accepts invitation to Myra Hess recital in February. Thanks for the gift of a credit at Altman's. W. S. C. [Stout #809]
She is probably the only person who has perfectly understood the book. Meant to be showing the basic attraction/repulsion of being in a marriage. Henshawes are intense lovers. Please send another copy of the review. Has enjoyed her stay in Jaffrey and feels proud of the mountain climbing she has done. Archbishop begins in the Forum in January. A completely new form for her. Willa Cather [Stout #857]
P.S.: Obscure Destinies selling well in England. The pianist Myra Hess came by and said her friends were praising it, and reported good words John Galsworthy had asked her to convey. P.S.: Sorry little Bernard is ill, making Christmas sad. W. [Stout #1138]
Has taken on so many social engagements, doesn't have time to write letters. Both Myra Hess and the Menuhins are in town. Is glad to have a home again and to have Josephine back, cooking better food than ever! Edith so busy she can't do much about getting settled. How is Helen Mac's baby? Willie [Stout #1155]
Doesn't believe Lucy Gayheart is one of her best, though the Hambourgs and Myra Hess do. Glad Carrie likes it. Selling well comparatively speaking, but book sales are all slow. Health not very good, probably due to nervous strain during spring and summer. No, can't come home for Christmas. Maybe Carrie would send reviews on to Roscoe? No one else in the family would care. Willie [Stout #1281]
Wishes she were there to cheer a rainy day. Enclosing a letter from Stephen Tennant. At times he lets emotions run away with him. Prefers simple, direct language. English poetry has greater riches and variety than French, but English prose is better plain, with strong emotion kept firmly controlled. Glad to hear she likes Barrie. He can get away with sentiment because he always does it with a hint of a laugh. Was glad to hear from her father and Yehudi on Saturday before they sailed. Sorry she is having respiratory trouble. Suggests she read at night when she is having trouble, to try to take her mind off it. Myra Hess came to tea yesterday and sent her greetings. P.S.: Good that Stephen went to Egypt even if it did cause him to rhapsodize; he needs it for his health. [Tennant was in Egypt in early 1939. That fact, together with the reference to Yaltah's illness, seems to confirm the dating of this letter. On the other hand, the reference to Yehudi's sailing conflicts with the statement that he is in Jaffrey. I conjecture no. 1439 was written later in the day. However, inconsistencies make it unclear.] Aunt Willa [Stout #1438]
His letter came while she was in the West on vacation [?]. Glad he likes My Mortal Enemy. Reason Ewan Grey and Esther do not reenter the story is that people dropped out of Myra's life. She had too many friends; that was one of her problems. Couldn't possibly keep up with them all. It was her excessive devotion to people that made her think of Oswald as her enemy at the end, as if he had destroyed her inner peace. But she could never have had inner peace. Knew the original of Myra quite well. She died fifteen years before the book was written. Will stop with that one question. Willa Cather [Stout #1469]
Enclosing two form letters regarding the Myra Hess Fund, to which she is a regular contributor. Willa [Stout #1574]
Knows a lot about the young Queen [Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother] discussed in enclosed article. The queen is friends with Myra Hess and Anita Gunn. The Queen's father is a poor Scottish landowner, and another daughter of a poor Scottish landowner, Lady Dolly Mackenzie, married into the Hambourg family and is very economical. Anita Gunn was raised on a farm that adjoined the Queen's before there was any thought that she would be Queen. The royal family summered in the Scottish Highlands and George [George VI, Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor] liked to play tennis with Elizabeth. As Duke of York he had no hope of ascending the throne, so could marry a poor girl. Queen Mary [Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes, Princess of Teck], being Scottish, did not object. Elizabeth a natural queen. She did lovely things in Canada; ordinary people are full of stories about her visit. Had heard a great deal about her from Myra and Anita Gunn, so was not taken by surprise.
