BR TO CONSTANCE MALLESON, 30 JUNE 1949
BRACERS 19877. ALS. McMaster. SLBR 2: #491
Edited by S. Turcon and N. Griffin. Reviewed by K. Blackwell

<London>
30 June 19491

Dearest Colette2

The draft letter3 you sent is quite satisfactory to me, and is all I asked for. Thank you.

You are entirely right about the injustice, but in all such tangles the least ruthless always comes off worst. And in any case I am not willing to see Peter4 again, though I think she would like to make it up. But I never shall.

The point is this: I don’t want to lose Conrad5 altogether, and he has decided that, unless you write some such letter, I must lose either him or you — He is inclined to hysteria, and is likely to quarrel with Peter as soon as he has love affairs, so it is important that I should keep on terms with him. The arrival of your letter is urgent.

I agree that it is better you should not write6 to me while Conrad is with me. After that, I shall be completely free in London, but I don’t know where. I will let you know as soon as I know myself —

I won’t again attempt to live in any domestic relation with a woman. I don’t seem able to make a success of it.

All goes well with me —

All my love, dearest Colette.

Your
B.

I have just been seeing the King.7 He was pleasant, didn’t stammer, and didn’t seem stupid. It was fun.

• 1

  [document] Document 200885.

• 2

  [envelope] The Lady Constance Malleson | Sundborn | Sweden. Pmk: PADDINGTON.W2 | 945AM | 1 JY | 1949

• 3

  The draft letter On 23 June Colette had still been waiting for her lawyer to render his final judgement on the letter to smooth things over between Colette, BR, and Conrad, who had all been pitted against one another by Peter. There are three versions of the draft letter: BRACERS 19871, document 200879 (in BR’s hand), BRACERS 19872, document 200880 (in Colette’s revised typing), BRACERS 19876, document 200884 (Colette’s hand). See BRACERS 19871, n.2.

• 4

  Peter Patricia (“Peter”) Russell, née Spence (1910–2004). She and BR were married from 1936 until 1952.

• 5

  Conrad Conrad Sebastian Robert Russell, born 15 April 1937 to BR and his wife Patricia.

• 6

  agree that it is better you should not write In her letter of 23 June 1949 (BRACERS 113289), Colette had suggested that it would make things easier for BR if she did not write to him when Conrad was staying with him. She enclosed a postcard (BRACERS 19875) for BR to fill out with acceptable dates for writing and then return to her.

• 7

  the King George VI awarded BR the Order of Merit at Buckingham Palace on the day of this letter. The King was known to have a stammer. The Order is restricted to 24 members, and it is a gift from the sovereign without the advice of his Prime Minister.