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11 Drayton Court, Drayton Gardens, S. W. - Is glad Trevelyan likes the story ["The Eternal Moment"] better than he expected; he agrees about the end and will work on it; is satisfied with the beginning although Trevelyan is right that the conversation suggests 'a rather unbecoming sauciness'. Wished Trevelyan had told him where 'the facetiae' are, as these are a definite fault. Asks if Ch[apter] II is a 'hash'. Does not think that he ought to come to Seatoller, as another house is 'ripening', and apologises. His mother sends her remembrance to Trevelyan and his wife. His Ravello story "The Story of a Panic" will appear next month: he 'likes it more than [he] ought'.

On headed notepaper for West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking, 'as from' Heytesbury House, Wiltshire [home of Siegfried Sassoon]. - Was about to ring her on 'a matter of slight public importance, when a private disaster overwhelmed' him: Agnes has given notice, as she 'doesn't like the cooking'. His mother has 'borne it better' than he has so far: he does not see how they can stay on at West Hackhurst. Will talk it over when he returns from the long weekend with Sassoon already arranged. If Bessie is 'driving alone' near his mother, knows she would like to see her. Must post this letter (in Dorking) and board the train.

Tells her to look at the Times, he thinks from last Saturday, announcing that the Dorking town councillors 'propose to cut a chalk cock on Box Hill in honour of the Coronation!'. Wonders if she could contact 'eg some V[aughan] Williamses, find out whether it is true, and join in a protest if it is'.

Postmarked Harlech. - Is taking his mother to Italy and asks if Trevelyan knows about pensions at Pallanza and Siena, or any 'mid-Appenine resort'. Is staying at Harlech till Wednesday. Asks if he can borrow the 'Golden Crock (Italian Picture Number)' before he goes [perhaps a reference to James's "The Golden Bowl"?]

Postmarked Weybridge; addressed to Trevelyan at the 1917 Club, 5 Garrard Street, W.C. - 'Colonel S--t' [see 3/45] has accepted; asks whether Trevelyan can meet Forster for lunch next Thursday. Took his mother to see the puppets [Gair Wilkinson's show at the Poetry Bookshop?]: liked the monkey and a dragon.

Pension Rigoni, Piazza San Francesco, Siena. - Weather was bad for the first week in Italy, and his mother suffered from rheumatism. They did go to Aulla [see 3/20], and W[aterfield] was very kind about it: a glorious place. Siena is very busy, but their pensione is good. Drove out today to Belcaro to see the Peruzzi frescoes, and a 'jolly view'.

Postmark London; forwarded to Trevelyan from the Shiffolds to c/o Mrs Russell, 11 St Leonards Terrace, Chelsea, S.W. - Has seen S.S. [Siegfried Sassoon?] and is 'entirely to blame and to blush' over a poem of his which is intended to be satirical; others have made the same mistake, such as a headmistress at Brighton who ordered a complete works on the strength of it and was so shocked she burned them all. His mother has talked to Mrs M. about whether G's coat was put into the car. Enjoyed seeing Trevelyan, and also C.A. [Clifford Allen?]

Reform Club, Pall Mall, S.W.1. - Did not ring up as one maid was away, the other ill, and he and his mother were 'muddling at the housework'. Invites Trevelyan to lunch at the Reform Club on Thursday, for 'jam roll & champagne'. Was at the [H.N.?] Brailsford dinner last night. Glad Cambridge proved interesting.

West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking. - Would like very much to visit on Saturday, and his aunt and mother look forward to seeing the Trevelyans for tea. 'The fame of Bob's boot' has spread; Forster dreamed last night that he went to see it. His aunt and mother are very curious to see what Trevelyan has brought back [from India and China].

West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking. - Thanks for the praise of the book ["A Passage To India"]; is happier than he was about the novel. Wonders if it might be a 'topical success': has sent a copy to Justice [Henry] McCardie [the judge of the O'Dwyer case] but doesn't expect a response. The picture of the 'Anglo-Indian' in the novel is not at all exaggerated: she should ask her husband or Goldie [Dickinson]. Asks her to read the correspondence he encloses out to Bob, a letter from Mrs Evans [George Eliot?] and two copy letters from his grandfather [presumably found while sorting his aunt's papers].

West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking [pre-printed]; sent to 'Mrs Trevelyan, The Shiffolds, near Dorking'. - Is off for the weekend; will ring when he gets back hoping to arrange a convenient time. They [he and his mother?] went to Down House yesterday and 'brooded very pleasantly amongst Darwins Wedgwoods and all that. The house is beautifully and even impressively presented'; recommends it, but perhaps she has been already. Adds postscript to say Mrs Reeves has provided him with 'two quite wearable though rather sloppy costumes [for the pageant?] '.

West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking. - Is to see Mr Williams [a surgeon, about his prostate trouble] tomorrow; asks if Bessie can find out about him. Is sceptical about operations; his mother even more so. George Thomson writes that Crompton [Llewelyn Davies?] has just escaped an unnecessary one. Thanks Bessie for her care. The book [his biography of Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson] is with the publisher, who seems to be enthusiastic.

West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking. - His mother wishes him to be in on Wednesday night, so cannot meet then: will ring up tomorrow. Has written to C.A. (Clifford Allen) about his difficulty [with the National Council for Civil Liberties, see 3/63?]; likes him, though 'his persuasiveness has too much of the politician in it', and it is kind of him to take the trouble. Has had a 'distressed letter from mumpy McMillan at Mrs Gadd's' and may 'hail him from the window' while at the Trevelyans'.

West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking. - Will try to ring up on Friday or Saturday to see how the visit to Whiting [see also 3/167] has gone. Is going to Knole for the weekend [to see Eddy Sackville-West?]. Encloses his article and one on him. The committee meeting [NCCL?] was 'interesting and polite', Virginia's play ["Freshwater", by Virginia Woolf"] 'interesting and funny', "[The Marriage of] Figaro" 'funny and polite. Bob Buckingham came with him to "Figaro". Forster's mother seems well.

West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking. - Hoped to ring up today, but the telephone is still in the open Post Office, 'pending Lord Farrer's pleasure' so is not private. Is not sure when they will be able to meet: expects she will not be receiving visitors for some time in the Nursing Home. Went to a bottle party at Julian and Ursula [Trevelyan's] with Raymond Mortimer. His mother sends love and sympathy. Is glad her impressions of Whiting and the nursing home are good.

W[est] H[ackhurst]. - Wonders if Bob suffered from sick headaches when having prostate trouble: does not think Goldie [Dickinson] did. Is going to consult Terence Millin, a doctor who uses diothermic treatment, though will not arrange to be treated without an outside opinion - on Millin himself if possible. May go on to MacDonald, about whom Bessie informed him via Mr Hutchinson, though is not optimistic about orthodox surgery. His mother knows something about it, and seems to be a little worried but not too much. He worries about 'the bits of work' he hasn't finished off: he has been so happy in his friends, particularly recently, that he does not feel he has '"missed" private relationships'. Hasn't seen Julian's pictures yet, nor the Chinese ones [the 1935-1936 International Exhibition of Chinese Art at the Royal Academy], but he and Bob may do both on Thursday. Malcolm Darling is back. Is trying to think of a title for his collected essays [Abinger Harvest]: asks if Bessie or Bob have any suggestions.

19 Manchester Street, W. - Thanks the Trevelyans for their letters. Has disappointing news: his tests are bad and MacD. [Sydney Macdonald] does not want to operate for at least a month; he will therefore return to West Hackhurst soon, and will need some supervision from a local doctor. If just for this month, he thinks 'fat Davidson from Shere' will do, but would be glad to hear of anyone in Dorking who may be better: asks who attended Bob. McComas, whom his aunt Laura saw, charged a guinea a visit. His mother will probably visit, and Bob Buckingham drive him down. Is writing to most people in pencil to let them know how ill he is.

Brunswick Square, as from West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking. - Headed 'PERSONAL'. Was 'so pleased' to see Bessie yesterday, but is 'much troubled' that she has 'so much vexation'. Of course knew that she 'disliked the lady', but had not realised how much; will be 'relieved' when his own present collaboration with her is over. Thinks that 'she can only influence opinions not sway the central part', and though it is 'tiresome' to 'see the opinion of someone whom one loves influenced by someone whom one is far from loving, it is only a superficial vexation', and, he trusts, temporary. Has been 'much distressed', and glad her 'preliminary warning' led him to be on his guard 'against that restless crawling desire for intimacy'. Does not know whether 'the lady' is 'bad, and I don't think you can know', but is 'gladder than ever not to be on the telephone!'.
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Is 'not dissatisfied' with his contribution to the Pageant [England's Green and Pleasant Land, performed at Milton Court, Dorking, 9–16 July 1938], but will be glad when it is over: it has 'meant endless work', and the 'Farrer boycott' has hurt him 'unreasonably'. This is, of course, in line with the 'indifference and hostility' they have shown to him and his mother ever since they came to West Hackhurst thirteen years ago; makes him realise 'how promptly they will turn me out when she [his mother] dies', which is depressing. Hates 'bitter thoughts - they are so tiring'.

Must now 'put on a collar and go to lunch with little Lord Carlow, whoever that may be', then entertain an American writer she will never have heard of, Waldo Frank, to tea. After that will return for a rehearsal at Dorking. Is sure it would be all right if she wanted to come with him to the dress rehearsal; she 'wouldn't mind the absence of the pigs and goats, which we fear will distress the critics'.

26 Brunswick Sq., W.C..1. - Upset Bessie 'has to go in' with health trouble. Wishes it were possible to detach the self from hopes and fears about the body. Is going home on Sunday to help deal with the servant trouble: his mother has decided the cook must go. Went to see "Rosencavelier" [sic: Strauss, "Der Rosenkavalier"] on Wednesday: his 'first entertainment for many months'.

West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking. - Came back yesterday from Dover. Will keep Miss Heisel's address, but probably will not employ her: has 'a few lame dogs' of his own, 'nothing like your pack', and doesn't want to be 'complicated by compassion' in the matter of the shorthand secretary for [T.E.] Lawrence's letters. Is already sending typewriting to 'arthritic Mrs Jones'. Bessie should talk to his mother about Dover and is welcome to borrow the flat in September: he and Ackerley have taken it on till the end of that month. Thinks Bessie, with Miss Simkins with her, would find it possible.

West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking. - Thanks Bessie for the 'wry gift': will read it, but sees it will bring no comfort to his 'idleness and timidity'. The active left-wingers he sees in London 'dislike and deplore it'. Charles Mauron is in Britain, 'trying to form a popular front', with which Forster sympathises, though he draws back from Mauron's attempts to instigate intervention in Spain. Gets very upset when he cannot support his friends as they wish. Mauron and his wife are in great danger, and feel 'their English friends are failing them'. Has finished 'a long formless paper about the past (semi-political)' for Mary Trevelyan's 'show', and a broadcast on "War and Peace". Enjoyed Dover. Is taking his mother to London on Monday. Would be nice if she and Desmond [MacCarthy?] dropped in. Hopes Bob will give up his Italy trip given the political situation.

West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking. - Was hoping to see Bessie on Saturday but cannot due to trouble with the ceiling of his flat [Brunswick Square]. Would like to read her niece's book and let possible reviewers know about it: he himself is not reviewing at the moment. Is sure his mother would appreciate a visit from Bessie when she has some free time. Enjoyed the concert very much, particularly Mary Jarred.

West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking. - Asks Bessie whether any of Goldie [Dickinson]'s books have been translated into Dutch so that he can put details into the bibliography [of his biography of Dickinson]. Has been confined to bed for ten days and would welcome a visit next week: his mother will also be there.

Postmarked Dorking. - The Forsters' housemaid only has housemaid's knee 'brought on... by going to the cinema in the holidays' and will not need hospital treatment. Thanks Bessie for arranging for the car last night: the Forsters much appreciated it. Is waiting at Dorking station for a Polish lady who entertained him at Cracow [Helena Mysłakowskaj?].