A Daughter's Tale: The Memoir of Winston Churchill's Youngest Child by Soames Mary

Author:Soames, Mary [Soames, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780679645184
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Published: 2012-07-24T05:00:00+00:00

AFTER THIS EMOTIONAL and upsetting interlude I found getting back to work quite difficult, particularly as I had told my companions in the library about my engagement, and a number of people on my “rounds” had read the rumours of it in the press: I found all this embarrassing and depressing. At home my family and our visitors were sympathetic and made “hopeful noises”—which did not accord with my mood. However, Gil Winant relayed a welcome message from Harry Hopkins (now back in the United States), whom he had told of my romantic crisis: “Girls as attractive as Mary should get engaged at least 3 times before marrying & and I send her my love.”

The President’s special advisers had generally taken a very touching interest in my affairs, and I wrote gratefully to Averell shortly after that mouvementé weekend. I first of all thanked him for a handsome present of books which he had sent me for my hospital library:

… The patients will be so grateful, and will appreciate them tremendously.

Then I want to thank you very sincerely for your sympathy and helpfulness at Ditchley. I thought it was most sweet of you—when you are so busy [and] have so many important claims on your time—to listen so patiently to a recital of my stupidities and heart-aches! You helped me such a lot—and made me take myself less seriously—which was an excellent thing! Thank you again—I shall never forget your kindness.5

I remained in a state of vacillation for several weeks, but on 2 June I wrote to Eric, telling him that my mind was quite made up, and that I would never marry him. It was a relief to me (and certainly to my mother) that I had finally decided—but I was very conscious I had not done well: I had caused unhappiness to Eric, and also discomfiture to his family, who felt deeply for him, and were mortified that the news of our private affairs had become public knowledge. Altogether this was not a happy time for me. I slogged away at my job—with which I was becoming thoroughly dissatisfied; the war news was unrelentingly dramatic, and not in a good way. We were experiencing painful reverses in North Africa, Greece, and Crete; on 24 May a capital ship, HMS Hood, was sunk with few survivors by the German battle cruiser Bismarck—though there was grim satisfaction when, three days later, the Bismarck herself was sunk; and on 22 June Germany invaded Russia.

In the middle of June I went to Norfolk for a weekend with Judy, to whom of course I had confided the ons and offs of my engagement, and who listened with infinite patience and good sense as I hashed over the whole unfortunate affair. It was lovely to be at Breccles again, and to catch up with many of the local friends of last summer. Judy (who was a year younger than I) had stayed on at Queen’s College, and was now in her last term there, trying to decide—as was I—what to do next.

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