DLA123-0065 Transcription
[in another hand] 8. 9.
2 THE ABBEY GARDEN,
GREAT COLLEGE STREET,
WESTMINSTER.
May 22. 1918
My dear Lucy
Your note has only just reached me here. Both Ruth[1] and I are more glad than we can say about your news, and it will be an immense relief to all of Philip’s friends.[2] But I certainly agree that it is most essential, in his interests, that the matter should be kept as secret as possible. Otherwise one cannot control some fresh outburst of spite and malicious hostility in Parliament or the Press. I need hardly assure you that I fully realise all the suffering that he has gone through during the post war and am not surprised to hear how much his health has been affected. But now, I trust, he will soon pick up again, and, whatever happens, that he will remember to be patient and to let his vindication wait until the war is over.[3] That is the advice of an old
[Page 2]
and true friend!
I must tell you that Faith[4] has just had to undergo a very serious operation, and is still in the nursing home. But she has come through it splendidly and is now quite out of danger. Indeed there is every reason to hope that, as a result, she ought to be stronger, and more able to enjoy life, than she has ever been before.
With love and congratulations to Philip from us all. | Yours very sincerely
Arthur Lee
Editorial Note:
Arthur Hamilton Lee, Viscount Lee of Fareham (1868-1947), British diplomat, soldier and politician; for biographical notes, see [11019].
LR
28/11/2018
[1] Viscountess Lee of Fareham, née Ruth Moore; wife of 1st Viscount (1869-1966) [6184]
[2] In the autumn of 1917, de László was arrested and interned on unproven suspicion of being an enemy alien. Having suffered a complete physical and psychological breakdown, he was moved, in May 1918, from Islington Internment Camp to a nursing home in Ladbroke Gardens, Notting Hill, where he was kept under strict house arrest. It is likely that Lee is referring to news of this move.
[3] It was not until June 1919 that de László’s case, at his own insistence, came up before the Naturalisation Revocation Committee. The Committee ruled that, “there has not been on the part of Mr de László any conduct which would merit or justify the withdrawal from him of the British citizenship which he enjoys”. For further details of de László’s internment, see: ‘De László's Internment: A Summary’: https://www.delaszlocatalogueraisonne.com/de-laszlo/internment; Giles MacDonagh, ‘Philip de László in the Great War’: https://www.delaszlocatalogueraisonne.com/de-laszlo/the-great-war [accessed 7th January 2022].
[4] Faith Moore (c.1879-1944) [6199], Viscountess Lee’s younger sister