Pièce 130 - Letter from Venetia Stanley to Edwin Montagu

[The British Hospital, Wimereux.]—Rain has prevented her from going out today. Has spent most of the day attending a dying man [cf. A1/129]. Montagu’s letter has just come. Discusses her feelings about the preparations for their marriage and her reasons for staying at the hospital.

TRANSCRIPT:

June 10th 1915.

My darling I’ve had rather a boring day, partly because it has been raining so I couldnt go out and had no where to sit when I wasnt working, partly because the few people who are left us are all so ill & in such continuous pain and one isnt busy so one has time to think of them. I’ve spent most of the day watching a man who is dying giving him oxygen every half hour. He has a temp of 107 and literally steams like a horse that has been galapped† hard (2 ps and 1 L or vice versa?) I’m sitting by him now, but there is nothing to be done.

Your letter has just come. I cant pretend I enjoy the thought of all the preliminaries but the idea doesnt become at all more unpleasant, in fact whereas at the beginning I didnt either realise the advantages or disadvantages fully, now I do both, but the advantages have grown more fast and strongly than the others. Still as you say there may be an element of slinking {1} in my desire to stay out here. I tried to put my case to you for staying as well as I could. As to the rest of the things I wrote about & you answered we may as well dismiss them. I think we both fully understand exactly what each requires and what each will give.

I feel too tired to write any more this evening. You’ve known me like this before & you know it means nothing, so dont think I’ve changed my mind.

I’ll write you a better letter tomorrow I hope, I’m sure

Venetia

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Written at the British Hospital, Wimereux.

{1} Reading uncertain.