BR TO CONSTANCE MALLESON, 2 APR. 1949
BRACERS 19864. ALS. McMaster. SLBR 2: #486
Edited by S. Turcon and N. Griffin. Reviewed by K. Blackwell

<Taormina>
April 2, 19491

Dearest Colette2

Peter3 came out here4 unexpectedly and by mistake was given a letter of yours5 before I got it. There has been an immense upheaval, involving at best an amicable separation. It appears that for the present it would be unwise for me to see you, though this won’t last more than a few months probably. It appears further that there are reasons for wishing you to leave the cottage early in May. I am sorry there has been this upset, and I am afraid Peter has written you disagreeable letters.6 It is all very disagreeable and I feel I have been incompetent. Please forgive me. Love.

B.

• 1

  [document] Document 200872. Document 200871 is an envelope titled “Letter from Taormina” typed by Colette.

• 2

  [envelope] The Lady Constance Malleson | Penralltgoch | Festiniog | N. Wales | Ingleterra. Pmk: TAROMINA | MESSINA | 24.49.14

• 3

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

• 4

  out here To Taormina, Sicily.

• 5

  a letter of yours This letter is not extant. Peter had written Colette an unpleasant letter (also not extant). Colette’s reaction was to write to BR, excoriating Peter for her behaviour. Colette’s letter seems to have made it clear that BR and Colette were lovers. It was this letter that BR indicated had fallen into Peter’s hands. In a disingenuous letter to Elizabeth Crawshay-Williams written on Easter Sunday, Peter tells her that on her first day in Sicily, she saw BR “reading a letter from her [Colette], standing against the light” and “saw the words ‘Darling Love’ standing out through the back of the paper in the bright sun”. She indicates that until then she had not realized that BR and Colette may have become lovers again. Once back in London, she tells Elizabeth that she opened another letter from Colette to BR which came to their flat “because it seemed the only way of finding out her intentions” (Easter Sunday [17 April 1949], BRACERS 131565).

• 6

  Peter has written you disagreeable letters Although these letters are not extant, letters that Peter wrote at this time to Elizabeth Crawshay-Williams (RA Rec. Acq. 501f) indicate Peter’s disdain for Colette.