We left Paris on Saturday at 8.25, traversing hundreds of miles of snow. We are staying briefly with the Kennerleys on our way to Burslem.
Last thing I did in Paris was to visit the Exposition de la Societe des Aquarellistes at George Petit's. I went to pick up some hints about technique. general level very low. Coming out, I met procession of autos depositing elegant women at the door. I doubt if the auto has yet been properly done from the elegant and the purely romantic qualities it has. Then, similar thought to that caused by the Debussy singer at Ullman's - all those painters having painted for a year to give, ostensibly, momentary pleasure to a few elegant un-understanding persons. Something fine about the notion somewhere. I thought I could work it up for "The Glimpse".
Two weeks ago, when he wrote to me in Paris, Lee Mathews said he thought he could sell "What the Public Wants" to Lena Ashwell. She is managing the Kingsway as well as appearing herself in the plays. To that end he took me to see Miss Ashwell today and we saw "The Truants", her current production, last evening. It is brightly written, has a splash of melodrama, and makes mild fun of the 'Salome' dance craze. Amusing and rather lightweight I thought for Miss Ashwell who is better suited to playing complex dramatic characters. I hinted this to her and she agreed but confided that the theatre is struggling financially and she needs a popular success. I don't think this will be it. As at our first meeting I found Miss Ashwell to be in every way extremely attractive. Her voice is pitched low and has a slight vibratory quality which stirs something in me. And her eyes! When conversing with you she looks deeply, and almost without blinking, into your eyes. Hers are large, softly brown, slightly hooded, and entirely captivating. She is in truth a beautiful woman, elegant and understanding. She re-married last year to a medical man, the royal gynaecologist apparently. How much I regret that we did not meet sooner. She seems well-disposed to me, has read my books, and expects "What the Public Wants" to be a great success. What a wife she would have made. I feel quite downcast that her affections lie elsewhere.
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