Behind the Mask
Page 38
takes part in an automatic writing session 113
full-blown affair with Violet Keppel 114–42
plays ‘Julian’ to Violet’s ‘Eve’ 115, 122–3, 127, 129, 143–4, 165
adopts male attire 120–1, 261
acquires a variety of dogs 138, 140, 173, 176–7, 259, 287, 288
called the ‘Dark Man’ by Pat Dansey 158, 159, 161–2
relationship with Virginia Woolf 162–70, 187–8, 195, 198, 222–3, 225, 234
decorates her room in the Brighton house 173
joins Harold in Tehran 174–82, 236
influence of Persia on 176–82
brings back bulbs from Persia and sends some back to Harold 178
wins the Hawthornden and Heinemann Prizes 179, 181, 220, 276
has a Dream Book 186, 255
her mother demands return of pearls 189–90
renounces her allowance from her mother 190, 214
radio broadcasts 191–2, 218, 219, 221, 225, 266
starts to collect budgerigars 193, 194
finds London flat in King’s Bench Walk for Harold 195–6
Sissinghurst as her refuge and possession 198, 201, 205–18, 254–8, 276, 278
financial position 215, 216, 227, 237–8, 239, 248, 250, 289
horticultural journalism 218, 250, 264, 265–6, 278–80
popularity and reputation 219–23, 279, 281–2, 289–90
American tour 223–7, 228, 235
rejected by Evelyn Irons 229, 234–5
compartmentalises her life 235–6
inherits money and possessions from her mother 248
reaction to her mother’s death 248–50
wishes to live a life of solitude in the country 255–62
begins to drink 259, 268, 270
reactions to the miseries of war 263, 264–72
death of her friends 267, 268, 269
re-kindles her friendship with Violet 270–3
post-war life 273–6
effect of being rejected by the Poetry Committee 277–8, 288
awarded the RHS Veitch Memorial Medal 282–3
lecture tours for the British Council 282, 286, 291
enjoys the visit of the Queen Mother to Sissinghurst 283
awarded the Companion of Honour 284
death and funeral 295–6
works by
books
All Passion Spent 74, 210–11, 217, 229, 250, 275
Andrew Marvell 193, 225
Aphra Behn: The Incomparable Astrea 118, 143, 145, 219, 291
Behind the Mask 49, 51, 53, 64
Challenge 57, 58, 66, 70, 117, 122, 129, 132–3, 134, 136–7, 144, 219
The Dark Days of Thermidor 38
The Dark Island 23, 36, 43, 222, 240–1, 242, 245, 246, 270
Daughter of France 280–1, 294–5
The Death of Noble Godavary 28, 99, 187, 285
The Devil at Westease 281
The Dragon in Shallow Waters 48, 120, 134, 138–9, 171, 241
The Eagle and the Dove 35, 80, 246, 268–9, 276
The Easter Party 19, 55, 75–6, 144, 286–8, 289, 291
The Edwardians 11, 15, 25, 44, 48, 57, 84–5, 199–201, 210, 215–16, 217, 222, 225, 250
English Country Houses 265–6
Family History 51, 58, 61, 102, 116, 217, 223, 231, 232, 233, 293
Gottfried Künstler 36, 65, 127, 164, 193, 196
Grand Canyon 76, 155, 261–2, 263–4, 266, 268, 286
Grey Wethers 75, 94, 132, 171–2, 209
The Heir 57, 165, 171, 203–4
Heritage 52, 53, 54, 56, 106, 113, 131, 180, 225
The King’s Secret 39, 168, 230
Knole and the Sackvilles 165, 166, 171
Marian Strangways 64, 82, 93–4
No Signposts in the Sea 206, 295, 296
Passenger to Teheran 175–6, 178
Pepita 248–50, 277
Portrait of a Marriage 16–17, 129, 139–40
Richelieu 37
Saint Joan of Arc 246, 247
Seducers in Ecuador 58, 76, 164, 168, 169, 223
Some Flowers 250
The Tale of a Cavalier 38–9, 168
Twelve Days 176, 181
The Women’s Land Army 26, 257, 263, 276, 283
plays
Jarl Haddan (four-act drama) 92
Jean Baptiste Poquelin (one-act comedy) 37
Le Masque de Fer (five-act French drama) 37, 47, 56–7
Le roi d’Elbe (verse drama) 38
On the Road, an episode 109
poems
Another World Than This (anthology, compiled with Harold Nicolson) 273
‘Arcady in England’ 33
‘Bee-master’ 167
‘Bitterness’ 171
‘Black Tarn’ 160–1
‘Blast’ 268
Collected Poems 167, 201, 234, 264
‘Convalescence’ 96
‘The Dancing Elf’ 87, 90
‘Disillusion’ 95
‘Early Love’ 70
Elegies from the Castle of Duino 218–19
‘Eve’ 129
‘Eve in Tears’ 129
‘A Fallen Youth’ 107–8
‘Full Moon’ 148
‘The Garden’ 109
The Garden 179, 216, 220, 221, 246, 255, 256, 265, 267, 268, 276, 291
‘Heredity’ 9
‘In June 2nd, 1953’ 283–4
‘In Memoriam: Virginia Woolf’ 267
King’s Daughter 189, 195, 198
‘La Poupée’ 31
The Land 141–2, 153, 156, 167, 174, 175, 178–9, 191, 220, 230, 256, 265, 277, 282, 288, 296
‘Making Cider’ 167
‘MCMXIII’ 92
‘Night’ 81
‘Nomads’ 112
‘On seeing my first proof sheets’ 107
‘One Day’ 111
Orchard and Vineyard 120, 158, 159, 166, 171, 220, 225, 276, 285
‘The Owl’ 32
‘Peace in the Mountains’ 194
Poems of West and East 106–7, 108, 112, 113, 119, 225
‘Reddín’ 141, 148, 246
‘Resolution’ 96–7
Selected Poems 264–5
‘September 1939’ 265
‘Sissinghurst’ 203
Solitude 245–6, 254, 255, 256
‘Sometimes When Night …’ 143
‘Storm in the Mountains’ 194
‘To Any M.F.H.’ 137
‘To Knole’ 92–3
‘Valediction’ 234
‘Year’s End’ 179
stories
‘Elizabeth Higginbottom’ 223, 224
‘The Poet’ 58, 223, 224
‘The Poetry Reading’ 150, 151
Thirty Clocks Strike the Hour 223–4
St Aubyn, Gwen Nicolson 91, 101
bridesmaid at Vita’s wedding 241–2
convalesces at Sissinghurst after a motor accident 242–3, 244
description of 242–3
The Dark Island dedicated to 242
affair with Vita 243–5
converts to Catholicism 243, 245–6
Solitude dedicated to 255
stays at Sissinghurst 259
moves to Cornwall 267
The Family Book 243
Towards a Pattern 245
St Barbara 85–6, 175, 235, 264
St Loup de Naud 270, 271, 273, 292
St Teresa of Avila 35, 80–1, 209, 268–9
St Thérèse of Lisieux 268–9
Salisbury, Lord 27
Saturday Review 240
Scarborough, Cecilia Dunn-Gardner, Countess of 148
Schwerdt, Pam (gardener at Sissinghurst) 294
Scott, Alicia 6
Scott, Geoffrey
description of 151–2
affair with Vita 152, 153–7, 161, 167
marriage and divorce 152, 157
numerous affairs 152, 183
death of 198
as publishe
d author 278
The Architecture of Humanism 151
A Box of Paints: Poems 152, 157
The Portrait of Zélide 152, 153, 167
Scott, Lady Sybil Cutting 152, 153, 157
Scott, Mary 6
Scott, Sir John Murray ‘Seery’ (d.1912)
contestation of his will of 1–2, 5–8, 88, 99
friendship with Victoria Sackville-West 3, 5–6, 48, 53, 54, 69
description of 4
inheritance 4–5
relationship with Vita 5, 71–2, 77, 89
French servants 47
death of 81
re-imagined by Vita 223–4
Scott, Walter 37
Second Boer War 30–1, 44, 120
Second World War 263–4, 266, 271
Shakespeare Memorial National Theatre Fund 59
Shakespeare, William, The Merchant of Venice 55, 58
Shaw, George Bernard 278
Shaw-Stewart, Patrick 62, 63, 64
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, ‘Ode to the West Wind’ 191
Sherfield Court (Hampshire) 147, 149, 178
Sissinghurst Castle (Kent) 34
Vita’s writing desk at 41
fictionalised in Family History 58, 217
portrait of Vita in the Library 77
writing-room in the tower 81, 208, 209, 210, 211–13
Vita’s first view of 197–8
descriptions of 198, 202–3, 207
as Vita’s refuge and possession 198, 201, 205–18, 251, 285
bought by Vita and Harold 201–3
Castle Farmhouse 202, 207
royal connections 204–5
as joint venture for Harold and Vita 205
changes and restoration 207–8, 209, 211–13, 214
Library 207, 208, 209
Priest’s House 207–8, 228, 267
separate living areas 207–8
South Cottage 207, 213
staffing levels 207
visitors to 208
turret room 213
gardens at 212, 213, 214–15, 216, 218, 228, 235, 238, 246–7, 250–1, 254, 267, 273, 278, 279–80, 282, 284
Rose Garden 228
White Garden 228, 267
opened to paying visitors 251, 279, 289, 294
Sackville flag hoisted by Harold 251, 273
land added to 256–7
during the Second World War 263–4, 268, 269
articles on 266
visited by the Queen Mother 283, 284
Harold’s comment on 290
transferred to the National Trust 296
Sitwell, Edith 277, 278
Sitwell family 178
Sitwell, Osbert 103, 110
Sluie estate (Aberdeenshire) 71–2
Smallhythe (Kent) 56
Smith, F. E. 6
Smyth, Dame Ethyl 229
Snowdon, Anthony Armstrong-Jones, Lord 279
Society of Authors Poetry Committee 276–7, 282
Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings 228
Sophie, Princess of Prussia, Duchess of Sparta 28
the Souls 62
Spectator 215, 218, 220, 267, 275
Spender, Stephen 185
SS Varela 175
Staples, Mrs (cook at Sissinghurst) 208
Stopes, Marie, Married Love 130
Strachey, Lytton 278
Strang, William 123–4
Stratfield Saye (Hampshire) 147
Stratheden and Campbell, Hallyburton George Campbell, 3rd Baron 72
Struther, Jan, Mrs Miniver 265
Summer Fields school (Oxford) 174
Sumurun (yacht) 138
Swinburne, Algernon 108
Taylor, Valerie 184
Taylor, William (gardener at Sissinghurst) 263
Tehran 156–7, 170–1, 176–8, 182
Tennant, Stephen 212, 281
Tennyson-d’Eyncourt, Philippa 290
Terry, Ellen
lends Vita her Portia costume 55, 60
lives at Smallhythe 56
takes part in The Masque of Shakespeare at Knole 59
gives Vita a signed photograph of herself 90
Thackeray, William Makepeace
The Book of Snobs 14
The History of Henry Esmond 14
Vanity Fair 14
Thomas, Dylan 278
Thornton Manor (Wirral) 119–20
The Times 277
Times Book Club 215
Times Literary Supplement 276, 283
Tolstoy, Leo, Anna Karenina 136
Tonbridge County School for Girls (Kent) 220
Trefusis, Denys Robert
effect of Violet’s affair with Vita on 118, 119
correspondence with Violet 124–5
awarded the Military Cross 128
relationship with Violet 128, 131–2, 134
reaction to Violet and Vita’s relationship 131–2
destroys Vita’s letters to Violet 132
travels with Vita for showdown with Violet 134–5
travels with Harold to confront their wives 136
death of 270
Trefusis, Violet Keppel
relationship with Vita 32, 44, 45–8, 60, 64, 79, 88, 100–2, 112, 270–3
at Miss Woolff’s school 44
description of 47–8
gives Vita a ring 47
comment on duality 51
caught in a cloakroom with Patrick Shaw-Stewart 63
comment on Vita 75
at château Malet 78
attitude to Vita’s marriage 89
takes part in a Persian play at Knole 102
sham flirtations 103
as godmother to Ben Nicolson 111
full-blown affair with Vita 114–42
reaction to her mother’s affair with Edward VII 116
believes her life to have been a waste 117
flirtatious correspondence with Denys Trefusis 124–5
relationship with her mother 125
relationship with Denys 131–2, 136
friendship with Pat Dansey 137, 158–9
lives in a tower at St Loup de Naud 270, 273
rekindles her friendship with Vita and Harold 270–3
as published author 278
affair with Princess de Polignac 291–2
Broderie Anglaise 11, 45, 217
Van Dyck, Anthony 33, 39
Vass, Jack (gardener at Sissinghurst) 263, 273–4, 294
Vertova, Luisa 290
Victoria, Queen 18, 19
Vilmorin, Louise de, Madame de 273
Vogue 24, 84, 106, 178
Voigt, Margaret 219, 229, 278
Wallace, Lady Amélie-Julie-Charlotte Castelnau 4–5
Wallace, Sir Richard, 1st Baronet 4
Walpole, Hugh 122, 192, 278
Warren, Dorothy 157, 183
Watt, Alec 168
Waugh, Evelyn, Brideshead Revisited 25
Week-end Review 218
Weininger, Otto 76
Sex and Character 124
Wellesley, Dorothy Ashton ‘Dottie’
description of 146–7, 148
bickering and squabbling in Italy 147–8
marriage to Gerald Wellesley 147
affair with Vita 148–9, 175
at Knole 153
congratulates Vita on her poem ‘Bee-master’ 167
accompanies Vita to India and Egypt 174
Vita dedicates The Land to 178, 296
witnesses the Campbells’ breakup 184
disgruntled at Vita’s affair with Hilda Matheson 192
first view of Sissinghurst 197
friendship with Hilda 233
as an alcoholic 267
as published author 278
Poems 147
Wellesley, Lady Eileen 70, 146
Wellesley, Gerald, 7th Duke of Wellington
brief engagement to Violet 103
lends Vita and Violet some money 129
marries Dottie 146–7
&nb
sp; bickering and squabbling in Italy 147–8
friendship with Nicolson 147
continued love for Dottie after their separation 149
White Lodge (Sussex) 174
William the Conqueror 27
Withyham (Kent) 67, 186–7
Women’s Club of America 226
Women’s Land Army Benevolent Fund 263
Woolf, Leonard
notices Vita’s habit of striding 151
as proprietor of the Hogarth Press 165
friendship with Vita 167
visits Vita in Berlin 193
comment on All Passion Spent 217
comment on Vita’s writing ability 221
comment on The Dark Island 241
comment on Sissinghurst 254
turns down Grand Canyon 261–2
Woolf, Virginia
comment on 2nd Baron Sackville 34
comments on Vita 69, 163, 165–6, 184, 203, 222, 260
comment on Long Barn 106
relationship with Vita 162–70, 184–5, 187–8, 198, 234, 283
comment on Nicolson 163
correspondence with Vita 163–4, 278
influence of Vita on 164
invites Vita to contribute to the Hogarth Press 167
health of 169
visits Long Barn 169–70
reaction to Vita departing for Tehran 174–5
comment on death of Lionel Sackville-West 187
comment on Hilda Matheson 193
visits Berlin 193
publishes Vita’s Collected Poems 201
comment on sales of Vita’s books 217–18
comment on Pepita 249
as published author 278
death of 267
Between the Acts 164
Orlando 43, 93, 121, 164–5, 169, 187–8, 193, 199, 200, 216, 219, 285, 291
To the Lighthouse 175, 233
Woolff, Helen 41–2
Worth, Charles Frederick 49
Wyatt, Sir Thomas 296
Yeats, W. B. 278
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
AN AWARD FROM The Society of Authors assisted the writing of this book. To the Society, and particularly members of the distinguished judging panel, I express my thanks.
I acknowledge the gracious permission of Her Majesty the Queen to quote from material in The Royal Archives at Windsor Castle, and am grateful to Pamela Clark, senior archivist, for her help.
I am grateful to those individuals who offered information, advice and assistance during the research and writing of this book: Michael Bloch; Ellen Browne, House Steward, Sissinghurst Castle; Kate Butler, Archives Assistant, Hull History Centre; Brett Croft, The Condé Nast Library, London; Simon Houde (and Sir Timothy and Lady Clifford, Ivo and Pandora Curwen, who brought about our meeting); Susannah Mayor, House Steward, Smallhythe Place; Dr Joanna Meacock, Glasgow Museums; Mitzi Mina, Sotheby’s, London; Geoffrey Munn, Wartski, London; Adam Nicolson; Heather Pisani, Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, Inc, New York; and Dr Amber Regis, University of Sheffield. In New York, Susan Fox deserves special mention for her remarkable and unstinting efforts of my behalf.