BR TO OTTOLINE MORRELL, [22 MAR. 1911]
BRACERS 17057. ALS. Morrell papers #4, Texas
Proofread by K. Blackwell and A.G. Bone

Hotel Corneille
<Paris>1^, 2
Wed.

My Dearest

Your dear letter found me last night — it was good of you to write and gave me great happiness. I am sorry you are so tired, but it is not to be wondered at. I don’t believe the hand of fate that holds you back is stronger; but we shall see. How can you ask if your love can be anything to me? It can be everything to me. You can give me happiness, and what I want even more — peace. All my life, except a short time after my marriage, I have been driven on by restless inward furies, flogging me to activity and never letting me rest, till I feel often so weary that it seems as if no more could be borne. You would change all that if you were willing. You could give me inward joy and expel the demons. All this is very selfish, but I do believe I could give you enough to keep you happy. In spite of what I said the other day, I believe I could find a satisfaction even for your ambition.

But Dearest I love you, and everything else is dross. Love is the only thing that redeems life — all the rest is labour and sorrow. I suppose I ought not to have written again, but I couldn’t help it. Goodbye, goodbye.

B.

• 1

  [document] Document 000004. Proofread against a colour scan of the original.

• 2

  [envelope] A circled “4”. The Lady Ottoline Morrell | 44 Bedford Square | London W.C. | Angleterre. Pmk: PARIS -5 | 12 | 22 -3 | 11 | R. DE VAUGIRARD. On the verso: illegible.