Violet to Vita, 22 July 1918
all things seductive
Vita Sackville-West, Challenge (Collins 1974)
Her humour
ibid
so marvellously
Violet to Vita, 27 August 1918
God knows
ibid, 19 August 1918
I hate lies
ibid, 26 August 1918
How right you were
ibid, 23 July 1918
I want you for
ibid, 25 August 1918
I have greatly dared
ibid, 26 August 1918
O Vita get away
Violet to Vita, 15 September 1918 (Beinecke Library)
What is the good
Violet to Vita, 23 September 1918
Mitya, even you
ibid
This is the best
Vita and Portrait of a Marriage
It does seem unfair
Violet to Vita, October 1918 (Beinecke Library)
Chinday was at her worst
Violet to Vita, October 1918
As Mrs Nicolson
Sidney Russell Cooke to Violet, 31 October 1918 (Lilly Library)
ELEVEN
Mitya will never leave
Violet to Vita, 21 March 1919
that swine Violet
Harold to Vita, 5 December 1918 Vita and Harold
She flatters you
Vita
It is nobody’s business
Victoria Sackville, Book of Reminiscences, 1922, published in Susan Mary Alsop, Lady Sackville
You say Violet
Harold to Vita, 14 February 1919 (Lilly Library)
I have destroyed
Harold to Vita, February 1919 (Lilly Library)
I’m glad
Violet to Vita, 16 March 1919 (Beinecke Library)
She talks in a voice
Vita to Harold, 20 March 1919 (Lilly Library)
Mitya I can’t face
Violet to Vita, March 1919
You know how I loathe
ibid, 21 March 1919
hell of having to endure
Violet to Vita, March 1919 (Beinecke Library)
What’s going to happen?
Violet to Vita, March 1919
I feel really
Harold to Vita, 29 March 1919 (Lilly Library)
Poor Denys
Vita to Harold, ibid, 30 March 1919
I certainly told
Violet to Vita, 8 May 1919
his word of honour
ibid, 30 March 1919
specialise in Russian
Denys to John Schomberg Trefusis, 1910 (Phyllida Ellis)
You look as though
ibid, April 1919
very county
Phyllida Ellis to author, April 1994
caged up
Denys to his sister Betty, 1911 (Phyllida Ellis)
I hate them, Mitya
Violet to Vita, 2 May 1919
Living permanently
Portrait of a Marriage
You simply can’t
Harold to Vita, 29 March 1919 Vita and Harold (Lilly Library)
he will say
Violet to Vita, undated March 1919
Hadji this
ibid, 19 April 1919
O darling
All I can do
Harold to Vita, 22 May 1919 (Lilly Library)
She says I would
Violet to Vita, 29 April 1919 (Beinecke Library)
I don’t absolutely
Portrait of a Marriage
My dear Vita
Denys Trefusis to Vita Sackville-West, 3 May 1919 (Lilly Library)
rigidly suppressed
Denys Trefusis to his sister Betty, 1911 (Pyllida Ellis)
ought to be confined
Violet to Vita, 5 May 1919
Really, how nice
ibid, 6 May 1919
I don’t think any
Pat Dansey, to Vita, May 1919
We are making
Violet to Vita, undated 1919
When I say care
ibid, 23 September 1918
I nearly struck
ibid, 6 May 1919
I can’t, can’t have one
ibid, 9 May 1919
Unless you make
Pat Dansey to Vita, undated 1919
I should like to
Harold to Vita, 24 May 1919 (Lilly Library)
I think he will
Violet to Vita, June 1919
V’s wedding
Vita to Harold, 1 June 1919 (Lilly Library)
you must come
Harold to Vita, 3 June 1919 (Lilly Library)
Violet thinks I will
Vita to Harold, 9 June 1919 (Lilly Library)
All that time
Portrait of a Marriage
TWELVE
I treated her savagely
Portrait of a Marriage
Don’t you know
ibid
What are you thinking
Violet to Vita, July 1919
If only I knew
ibid, 26 June 1919
O God another
ibid, 8 July 1919
All this will
ibid, 21 July 1919
Will the young
Edwardian Daughter
I see no one
Violet to Vita, September 1919 (Beinecke Library)
when you are not with me
Vita to Violet, fragment, 1919 (Beinecke Library)
Tomorrow you will go
Violet to Vita, September 1919 (Beinecke Library)
I had another frightful
ibid
I can’t impress
Violet to Vita, 17 October 1919
I said nothing
Victoria Sackville, unpublished diary, 18 December 1919 (Lilly Library)
I feel I ought
Violet to Vita, 6 January 1920
I felt blackened
Portrait of a Marriage
I know you can
Vita to Harold, 1 February 1920, Vita and Harold
It was a sort
Violet to Vita, 16 February, 1920 (Beinecke Library)
she refused so positively
Vita to Harold, 9 February 1920. Vita and Harold
He was pompous
Portrait of a Marriage
Denys was very cool
Victoria Sackville, unpublished diary, February 1920 (Lilly Library)
This must never go
Portrait of a Marriage
She calls it banishment
Vita to Harold, 14 February 1920 (Lilly Library)
I am simply dazed
Violet to Vita, 14 February 1920
Every day L telephones
Vita to Harold, 18 February 1920 (Lilly Library)
O my darling
Violet to Vita, 16 February 1920 (Beinecke Library)
You can’t seriously
Violet to Vita, 29 January 1920
THIRTEEN
Pat is a powerful
Violet to Vita, February 1920
he does nothing but
ibid, 16 February 1920
he yelled
ibid, 20 February 1920
Edwardian Daughter
‘My dear Lord’
ibid
I know that just
Denys Trefusis to Violet, 24 February 1920 (Beinecke Library)
I am afraid
Pat Dansey to Vita Sackville-West, 2 March 1920. Violet to Vita
I could not be
Violet to Vita, 9 March 1920
Darling, I saw
Pat Dansey to Violet, 15 March 1920. Violet to Vita
a debased crippled
Violet to Vita, 1 May 1920
I am singularly pure
ibid, 7 May 1920
Before I had always
Portrait of a Marriage
You have told me
Violet to Vita, 12 March 1920 (Beinecke Library)
My dear I worry
Pat Dansey to Vita, 8 May 1920 (Nigel Nicolson)
I saw the sort
Portrait of a Marriage
In the Middle
Violet to Vita, 8 May 1920
How can you expect
ibid, 19 March 1920
What a dreadful
ibid, 11 May 1920
Hate seeing her
Vita Sackville-West, unpublished diary, 22 April 1920 (Lilly Library)
I can’t bear
Violet to Vita, 22 May 1920
I am twenty-six
ibid, 5 June 1920
O Mitya, you can
ibid, 7 July 1920
I fear the scandal
Mrs Keppel to Violet, undated (Beinecke Library)
I could not live
Violet to Vita, 21 July 1920
Jean is a nice
Harold to Vita, 17 January 1919 (Lilly Library)
Can you arrange
ibid, 19 July 1920
Having written it
Portrait of a Marriage
Darling it’s true
Violet to Vita, 24 August 1920
three dozen nightgowns
Edwardian Daughter
She has been gardening
Violet to Vita, August 1920 (Beinecke Library)
You haunt this place
Violet to Vita, August 1920
She fusses
ibid, October 1920
She is diabolical
ibid
If I can’t be
ibid, 19 September 1920
This time last year
ibid, 17 September 1920
I can only feel
ibid, 2 October 1920
I love nothing
ibid, 14 October 1920
It was like two
Portrait of a Marriage
she seems absolutely
Book of Reminiscences
FOURTEEN
On Saturday we shall
Harold to Vita, 8 February 1921. Vita and Harold.
M’elle never leaves
Violet to Vita, 14 March 1921
Another letter
Violet to Vita, 9 March 1921
My poor mother
ibid, 18 March 1921
And what should I
ibid
If only you would
ibid, 29 March 1921
It is possible
Portrait of a Marriage
blazing blue eyes
Dictionary of National Biography, 1921 entry by Vita
Tell Dottie she is
the most corrupt
Violet to Vita, 1 May 1921
It seems so odd
ibid
Men chinday now completely
ibid, 27 May 1921
everything to me
ibid, 19 July 1921
I would gladly do
Pat Dansey to Vita, 15 August 1921 (Nigel Nicolson)
Her mother refuses
ibid, 1 September 1921
Beyond that I have
ibid, 10 November 1921
I do wish, Vita
ibid, 23 December 1921
I only feel
Harold to Vita, 8 January 1926. Vita and Harold
I do not remember
Raymond Mortimer to Vita, 29 December 1925 (Lilly Library)
It is only very
I curse myself
Vita to Harold, 8 December 1922. Vita and Harold
And with it all
ibid, 16 November 1922
FIFTEEN
How black is my future
Violet to Pat Dansey, March 1921 (Beinecke Library)
Denys would frequently
Don’t Look Round
I have to go and see
Pat Dansey to Vita, 1 August 1922 (Nigel Nicolson)
I do hate
ibid, 10 March 1922
I will go as
Violet to Pat Dansey, 15 March 1922. Violet to Vita
Well! I’m damned
Pat Dansey to Vita, March 1922 (Nigel Nicolson)
Darling if V
ibid, 6 May 1922
Surely from old
ibid, 17 August 1922
I was fearful
ibid, 8 April 1922
Apparently her mother
ibid, 4 December 1922
I loathe being
ibid, 17 July 1923
Would it be easier
ibid, 30 August 1923
Three perfect days
ibid, 11 November 1923
I centralized on
ibid, 24 November 1923
I would sooner die
ibid, 3 August 1924
I do apologise
ibid, undated 1924
I am going to tell
ibid, 26 June 1924
in a very amorous
ibid, 27 May 1926
She never bought
Lord Northumberland to Vita Sackville-West, 3 February 1924 (Lilly Library)
I do not want
Vita to Harold, 12 February 1923 (Lilly Library)
I surrendered
Don’t Look Round
Every night
The Hook in the Heart, unpublished manuscript (Beinecke Library)
How could she make
ibid
Her love of love
ibid
Disowned by
ibid
People quailed
Don’t Look Round
Part Three: Chacun Sa Tour
SIXTEEN
a cold beauty
quoted in Michael de Cossart, Food of Love: Princesse Edmond de Polignac and her Salon (Hamish Hamilton, 1978)
the hideous Hotel
Horizon Review of Literature, 1941–50
constantly heard
ibid
Together they would
Don’t Look Round