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Ive given chapter and verse, he then replied, as usual.
Rome, shall go to
Norman Douglaswithout any reservation.
Italy was the land of hisadoption, of
his heart, of his religion.
He was pretty flush just then, and I on my beam
ends and altogetherrun down.
If he left victims whom he had defrauded I refuse
to believehe defaulted willingly. Hewould not touch the book; perhaps it is on
the Index, where I think itought to be. It was not commonness; it was
asensitive mans mask, his armour, his defence against the world.
He also once
gave me the following document,imploring me to keep it in some safe place:ROME,
Nov.
Poor old boy, Ill bet he only came in here for thesake of the
warmth.
Hereplied You just keep it or words to that effect; I therefore
keptit.
He thought he hadfound an asylum in Malta where he could take breath
and retrieve hislosses. Yes; no doubt it hurts, and no doubt Maurice was a
spongeron that occasion.
There was something childlike and forlorn about him.
Heaven knows what he did with it,apart from guzzling. This isdoubtless the book
above referred to. Then, after some further protestations:Can you really spare
it?
Allmanuscripts and books for Norman Douglas. Anyhow, ghost or no ghost, Im
tired of sitting down.
But it did him good to be remindedthat not everybody was
a R.
Poor old boy, Ill bet he only came in here for thesake of the warmth. Now
let us try to be fair to my young friend; it is soeasy to be unfair!
Catch me
keeping up such acorrespondence with a person whom I despise!
Poor biographers,
these romance-writers; and poor psychologists.
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