That there is this possibility at all

6 October 1937

Write to me often, I live by your letters. Write to me truly. I don’t think I am clever enough to read between the lines, or if I think I must, then I read volumes. Write to me truly. Tell me how you are, what your bed is like (I mean, what the mattress is like, the unembalmed mattress). What you are wearing, the colour of your eyes. Tell me the compliments you have, they please me better than they please you, though they may please you too. Tell me what is unpleasant, uncomfortable, annoying, for I shall imagine it anyhow, I would much rather you told me. The best thing you can tell me in any letter is the date, for each date will bring you nearer back. Tell me the date, the hour, whether you are sitting in a straight or a curly chair, whether your window faces east or west.

But most of all, you are so far more than duty to me – tell me how you are, and tell me you take care.


Sylvia Townsend Warner's letter to her life partner Valentine Ackland