26 May
26 May
26 May 1920
2 Portland Villas, Hampstead - London
My dear Gertler,
Will you please accept my assurance that I did not mean what I told Murry to go any further - ever. A friend of mine told me the silly, stupid ‘gossip' & talking CONFIDENTIALLY to John I repeated it - Of course I fully and absolutely accept your statement. It was a typical, idiotic London rumour. As such I told it John - I never dreamed he'd retell it or Id rather have done anything than start a grimy snowball. My fault - for not making him realise it was for his ear alone.
But let's stop it - please. The odious affairs are too horrid. Will you come and have tea with me one afternoon & tell me what you told them about Cezannes pictures - Could you come next Wednesday - you needn't talk about Cezanne if you don't want to.
Kamerad! Kamerad!
Dont lets pay any attention to rumours. Id never have breathed a word except to John.
Yours
Katherine. [To Mark Gertler in Collected Letters]
My dear Brett,
What I told John about a report that had been spread I told him in confidence, as it had been told me. I would not have breathed a word to anybody except John. This he didn't understand when he repeated it to you.
But Id be so immensely grateful if you forget it. I detest such affairs and cannot bear to think I have been the unconscious creator of one.
Yours ever
Katherine [To Dorothy Brett in Collected Letters]