Letter from Edward Renouf to Anny Schey von Koromla

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8 October

Dear Baroness Schey!

I was in Innsbruck early this morning and sent you a postcard via the ‘varsity box’ there. When I returned there were several letters waiting for me. One from the American Consul in Munich, saying I shouldn’t have too much difficulty getting a passport. Another from Clifford in Paris. As usual, he writes only about Ellen. He says she’s an angel and that he loves her more ardently than any man or woman has ever loved before! Those two should go out in society. C suggested they take an aunt along as a chaperone, not that E needs one – just to protect her reputation. But the aunt would have to be told that she should never, ever be there (!) when C and E want to be alone together, and not in larger gatherings. This, among other things, complicated matters, and Clifford, as a result of his over-sensitivity and passionate desire to ascend with Ellen to the seventh heaven of understanding, actually descended to the seventh hell of misunderstanding. At this point Ellen proved what an angel she is by writing him two letters. On the one hand he was dismayed by these letters because they made him see what an ass he is (while also showing Ellen’s love for what it is!) and on the other hand he was completely and utterly elated and overjoyed that she’d shown him how they’d soon get to the seventh heaven and were already pretty close.

You must meet Ellen someday, Baroness Schey. Not only is she strikingly beautiful, she also perceives the world around her as beautifully as she herself is beautiful, and that’s what counts! When she’s near, the sun burns brighter, flowers are more vibrant, the woods more aromatic, and the night air whispers more mysteriously at the shutters. These statements may seem over the top to a dry, objective mind, but there’s a mystical belief on the fringes of natural science, namely that people have certain [illegible] vibrations which are beneficial to some and burdensome to others. At any rate, this Ellen has an influence, frequency or whatever it may be, that’s so beneficial to Clifford and others like him – and to the birds, the flowers, the woods in the mountains, the stars in the sky, the air at night – that the changes are clearly visible on close observation.

I’ll do what I can to introduce you to Ellen at some point.

I’m coming the day after tomorrow – – – for you tomorrow – – –

Edl

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