July 30 Saturday

Norman came: but only for the day and night. (Bank holiday)
We went for a ride in the Priour car to Montfort, had tea in the Patisserie1 (Norman, Laura, me, Dorothy, Alan & Beryl)
Not much talk. Norman feels the Catherine situation keenly: she trying to legislate for him about his friends. (Margaret will go to Len & Jane.) But he2 marries in September.
We gambled with ever increasing 100's. Beryl lost 300 fr [francs] but Alan won 265 and when we had scaled things up my 60 franc winnings were only 20.
The furniture came.
At the farm they threshed: 15 people at work feeding the machine, carting away the oats, seconds, chaff, and ×××× [indecipherable] building a tall haystack around a pole. Modeste went to help and got involved in the semi-sexual fun – tumbled in the hay & hurt in her dignity.

Editorial Notes

1 "bakery" eds.

Hands Referenced

Places Mentioned

  • Montfort

    Monfort, Brittany, France

People Mentioned

  • Alan

    Hodge, Alan
    Oxford history graduate. Became close friends with LR & RG. First husband of Beryl Graves. CP & WG

  • Laura

    Riding, Laura
    (1901-91) American poet. Laura Riding (née Reichenthal; then Laura Gottschalk).

  • Beryl

    Pritchard, Beryl
    daughter of Harry and Amy Pritchard, R.G.'s second wife. Formerly married to Alan Hodge. Robert and Beryl had four children: William, Lucia, Juan and Tomas. eds

  • Norman Cameron

    Cameron, Norman
    Poet. Built Can Torrent in 1932-1933. W.G.; m. to Elfriede, then to Catherine Vandervelde; friend and contributor to LR and RG's work eds.

  • Catherine Vandervelde

    Vandervelde, Catherine
    one of Korda's scriptwriters; friend of RG and LR, met at Denham studios; contributor to World and Ourselves; married Norman Cameron in September, 1938. eds. Diary, and Friedmann 302

  • Modeste

    Dreuxlin, Modeste
    cook and house maid at La Chevrie, France eds.

  • Dorothy

    Simmons, Dorothy
    Sculptor associated with the Graves-Riding inner circle (1938-39). Married to Montague Simmons. eds

  • Margaret

    Russell, Margaret
    House-keeper L.R. & R.G. had had in London. WG

  • Len

    Lye, Len
    New Zealand painter, sculptor, and filmmaker whom LR & RG had met in London. He helped with the Seizin Press publications. WG; married to Jane Lye, son Bix. eds.

  • Jane

    Lye, Jane
    Married to New Zealand artist/ film-maker Len Lye; son Bix Lye. Friends with R.G. and L.R. Visited Graves and Riding in Majorca (1930), where Jane provided secretarial assistance. eds (RPG 138).