Saturday, May 1st., Cadogan Square, London.
Started on the correction of the second part of "Lord Raingo". Two hours or so of this and then I went up by bus to Welbeck Street to see Dorothy. The miners' strike was on, and the posters said that the Trades Union Council had ordered a general strike in sympathy starting at midnight on Monday. Great gloom especially as I had been sure of, and had prophesied, a settlement of the coal trouble. I am going to have to clarify my thoughts now that the whole industrial 'problem' is coming to a head. Which side am I on? The words I put into Edwin Clayhanger's mouth come back to me: "... workmen on strike are always in the right; at bottom I mean. You've only got to look at them in a crowd together. They don't starve themselves for fun." And I didn't write that for fun. It was what I thought then. Do I still?
This business of being a father is taking some getting used to. Whenever I meet people my first thought is: "Do they know?" And then I am wary as to how they will react. I must be coming across rather strangely in consequence, but they probably attribute it to my being a first-time father at the age of 59. If only Marguerite had been willing to divorce we could have regularised the whole business and I would behave naturally. The fact is I am a conventional person at bottom. I don't like the idea of having a bastard daughter.
Showing posts with label Edwin Clayhanger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Edwin Clayhanger. Show all posts
Tuesday, 1 May 2018
Monday, 29 February 2016
Eccentrics?
Tuesday, February 29th., Comarques, Thorpe-le-Soken.
As regards the great invasion scare, the two batteries 'stood by' yesterday morning from 4 a.m. till sunrise and today from 5.30 a.m. till sunrise, already to move off - except that bits were not in harness. The reinforcement which came in a hurry from Colchester here consists of convalescent wounded gunners from the front, appointed only to light duty and to extreme emergency duty. The whole East coast has been in alarm about a possible German invasion for the last week or so, but I haven't believed it and still don't. How do these alarms arise I wonder? Frankly, if a raid did occur the coastal defences would simply not have a look in against the picked Germans who would land. They are not only third rate, but very badly generalled. Indeed it is comic and is so regarded by the officers who are intelligent. I just feel sorry for the men who have been sleeping out night after night on the Clacton shore in rain and snow. It is always those at the bottom of the pile who suffer for the eccentricities of their 'superiors'.
Speaking of eccentricities I sometimes wonder if I am regarded as rather eccentric? I am thinking particularly of my desire (some would call it an obsession) to have things 'just so' I have always liked to have things placed properly; to my way of thinking it is about feeling comfortable. I know some readers found Edwin Clayhanger's finickiness rather amusing but in fact I was more or less describing myself, or at least how I would be were I in Edwin's shoes. Sometimes I wish I could be in Edwin's shoes! How delightful not to be married, to be the master of one's own time, to have a sufficient income and a house just suited to one's purposes. Thinking about things as I am this evening I wonder if it was really credible that Edwin should have forsaken all that comfort for what - Hilda may have been very charming and he no doubt anticipated sexual rewards, but it couldn't last, and he must have known that? Anyway I shall stick to my routines in the face of knowing smiles, and maybe will have the last laugh, quietly of course.
As regards the great invasion scare, the two batteries 'stood by' yesterday morning from 4 a.m. till sunrise and today from 5.30 a.m. till sunrise, already to move off - except that bits were not in harness. The reinforcement which came in a hurry from Colchester here consists of convalescent wounded gunners from the front, appointed only to light duty and to extreme emergency duty. The whole East coast has been in alarm about a possible German invasion for the last week or so, but I haven't believed it and still don't. How do these alarms arise I wonder? Frankly, if a raid did occur the coastal defences would simply not have a look in against the picked Germans who would land. They are not only third rate, but very badly generalled. Indeed it is comic and is so regarded by the officers who are intelligent. I just feel sorry for the men who have been sleeping out night after night on the Clacton shore in rain and snow. It is always those at the bottom of the pile who suffer for the eccentricities of their 'superiors'.
Speaking of eccentricities I sometimes wonder if I am regarded as rather eccentric? I am thinking particularly of my desire (some would call it an obsession) to have things 'just so' I have always liked to have things placed properly; to my way of thinking it is about feeling comfortable. I know some readers found Edwin Clayhanger's finickiness rather amusing but in fact I was more or less describing myself, or at least how I would be were I in Edwin's shoes. Sometimes I wish I could be in Edwin's shoes! How delightful not to be married, to be the master of one's own time, to have a sufficient income and a house just suited to one's purposes. Thinking about things as I am this evening I wonder if it was really credible that Edwin should have forsaken all that comfort for what - Hilda may have been very charming and he no doubt anticipated sexual rewards, but it couldn't last, and he must have known that? Anyway I shall stick to my routines in the face of knowing smiles, and maybe will have the last laugh, quietly of course.
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