Notebook 1 - The Green-Leach & DuMaurier Controversy

Undated letter probably from 1925 or early 1926

My dear Mrs. Davis,

I have been anxious to have a little quiet chat with you for some time, but have been ill during the holiday, and our living out of town does increase our difficulty in seeing each other. I will therefore write a few lines as I am anxious to have your opinion and the opinion of any members of the Circle you are able to reach on the Green-Leach / du Maurier controversy.

At the beginning of December, Miss du Maurier resigned from the Circle and upon my urging Mrs. Green-Leach by letter to investigate the matter & try and get Miss du Maurier back. Mrs. Green-Leach came over to see me, & gave me to understand that the breach was final. Shortly after, Mr. Meredyth & Miss du Maurier came to see me & complained that, dating from their engagement Mrs. Green-Leach had subjected Miss du Maurier to considerable annoyance and had spoken of Mr. Meredyth (to?) as a common working man etc... having heard both sides of the question I yet have heard nothing suggested to explain the matter except  annoyance on Mrs. Green-Leach's part at the engagement.

It seems to me that for two members of the Poetry Circle to get engaged is not a crime, especially as the Poetry Circle is more or less of a social character. Yet for this offence, Miss du Maurier was in a way pushed out...

-Unfinished letter by Mrs. Lucy Derrick-Swindells, Notebook 1

This is one of my favorite letters in the first notebook. Lucy often sees herself as upper class and socializes with those in the upper class society in the Baltimore of the 1920's and 30's. However, financially they are anything but upper class as we will discover in later letters. While Lucy is a proud woman and enjoys associating with people who are more well off than she is, I admire her tenacity and her ability to see through conflicts that seem silly today. - Carrie