BR TO CONSTANCE MALLESON, [29 MAR. 1917]
BRACERS 19115. ALS. McMaster
Edited by S. Turcon. Reviewed by K. Blackwell

<letterhead>
Telegraph House
Chichester1^, 2

My loved one

I hated to write such a wretched scrawl this morning but I hadn’t time for more. I count the hours till Saturday — I want you desperately — I miss you every moment — and the nights seem terribly lonely.  Dearest one, I become yours more and more utterly — much more since Streatley3 — I want you, my whole being cries out for you.

My wife4 has had an operation for a lump in her breast, and it turned out to be cancer. For the moment, the operation was successful — but of course it leaves her future very doubtful —

B

• 1

  [document] Document 200088.

• 2

  [date] The date is assigned from BR’s mention of “a wretched scrawl” (BRACERS 19116).

• 3

  Streatley BR and Colette had been together at the Swan Inn, Streatley-on-Thames, from 24 to 27 January 1917.

• 4

  My wife Alys Russell (1867–1951), an American Quaker. She and BR married in 1894. Their marriage foundered in 1901, but they did not formally separate until 1911. Although the operation was successful, Alys did have another recurrence in 1926. In a letter of 5 April 1917 to her sister, Mary Berenson, she expressed her gratitude for all the affection the family had showered on her, making her ordeal less difficult (Barbara Strachey, Remarkable Relations: The Story of the Pearsall Smith Women [New York: Universe Books, 1982], p. 278).