171
Carta del 2-VI-1933. AMAE, leg. 330, 3-A.
172
Véase F. Friera: Ramón Pérez de Ayala, testigo de su tiempo, Fundación Alvargonzález, Gijón, 1997, pp. 446-449. Recuérdese que, durante agosto y primeros días de septiembre de 1936, antes de salir de España, Ayala vio que peligraba su vida en la capital del gobierno «republicano». Bajo ese contexto ha de entenderse el telegrama que Forbes dirige a Vansittart, el 18 de agosto de 1936, que dice así:
| (Public Record Office. FO371/20530) | ||
173
CARTA N.º 3
44, Park Street, W.
1.
7th October, 1936
My dear Ramón,
We were both most delighted to get your letter. I hope you will forgive me for typing this one to you but I am so over-burdened with work and I find that I can type rather faster than I can write.
It has been an unspeakable relief to Sarita and myself to know that you are all well and in safety, and your letter has come as a real joy to us both. We send you all affectionate messages, more indeed than it is possible to convey by paper. We shall be longing to see you again, and if you do come over here of course we hope that you will treat our house as yours.
Meanwhile may I at once approach a delicate topic, I hope without offending you, for our longstanding friendship should be a guarantee against that. Will you and Mabel not allow Sarita and me to assist you while you are in Paris? We should be so glad to do so and we feel that you may have real need of it. Forgive me for mentioning the subject, but one has to live, and we should both like to feel that you were living comfortably. Please be quite frank with me and not too proud. Any service that we could render you would be more than a pleasure. In any case we want you both to know that if you do feel yourselves in any need of anything and at any time you can always count one your very affectionate friends. It will always be one of my best memories that I was able to be of any help in bringing you to the safety which must now be an unspeakable relief to your mind as it is to ours.
Do write to me fully how you are getting on and if there is anything whatever that I can do for you. Meanwhile I feel much happier at getting so courageous and cheerful a letter from you. Please write to me fully whenever the spirit moves you.
With all our affectionate good wishes.
Yours ever
Van
174
CARTA N.º 5
44, Park Street, W.
1.
15th October, 1936.
My dear Ramón
Very many thanks for your letter. I am delighted to hear that you are well and in no material difficulties. This is reassuring news. Anyhow you know that you have a friend in case of need. And after that I will say no more.
I was very interested by all your news. It would be nice to see you personally, and I am sure many of your other friends here would be glad to see you too. Let me know if and when you think of coming over, even if only for a few days. I should look forward to seeing you and to having a talk.
Yours ever
Van
Senor Don Pérez
Ramón de Ayala
(sic)
2, rue Daubigny, PARIS
175
CARTA N.º 6
44, Park Street, W.
1.
27th October, 1936.
My dear Ramón,
Thank you very much for your letters of October 18th and 23rd.
I would of course gladly have forwarded your letter to Ogilvie Forbes were it not that we have at present no means of ensuring that a bag to Madrid will arrive safely. So I thought it better to refrain from sending your letter in case it fell into wrong hands.
I understand that your friend still refuses to leave and maintains that he will be all right. But I have had your «final» message delivered.
I find it difficult to reply in writing to your main question. It seems to me one that only you can answer. I need not repeat that all your English friends and acquaintance would, I can assure, be more than glad to see you. You would always be received in England with interest and welcome.
We both enjoyed your letters and are so glad that you remain in good spirits, despite everything. Many affectionate messages from us both to you both.
Yours ever
Van
176
CARTA N.º 7
44, Park Street, W.
1.
14th November, 1936.
My dear Ramón,
Many thanks for your letter. I am seeing what can be done in the cases you mention and will communicate with you again. If I hear anything further about Dr. Marañón I will certainly let you know. I gave you the last information that we had, and since then Forbes has reported no further. Let us hope therefore that, according to the proverb, no news is good news.
I wonder when we shall see you here. Meanwhile I hope all goes well with you and Mabel. Sarita joins me in affectionate messages to you both and every good wish in these hard and anxious times.
Yours ever
Van
Senor Don Ramón Perez de Ayala, 2, rue Daubigny, PARIS.
177
CARTA N.º 8
44, Park Street, W.
1.
12th January, 1937.
My dear Ramón,
Many thanks for your card. We were both so glad to have news of you.
I do hope that Mabel is better by now. Please give her all our best wishes. I would have written to you sooner in the New Year but I was in the country for a week. This letter is just to give you both our most affectionate messages and to express the hope that the year 1937 will treat you and Mabel kindly. Let us know if there is any prospect of your coming over here again. It is always a pleasure to see such friends.
I hope all goes well with your son in London. Tell him of course to come to us if he needs any help or advice, but I expect you have already told him that and that he does not need either. In any case Sarita and I both thought he was looking very well and much more sure of himself the last time we saw him in London.
Yours ever
Van
Senor Don Ramón Pérez de
Ayala,
2, rue Daubigny, PARIS.
178
CARTA N.º 9
44, Park Street, W.
1.
3rd June, 1937.
My dear Ramón,
I was so glad to have your letter of May 26th and your news. I will gladly see what can be done (though it may not be much) for your friend’s mother.
Now, about your coming over, it is unnecessary to say how much Sarita and I would like you both to come and stay with us. At the same time it occurs to me that you would want to see many people and would feel freer to do so elsewhere than in my house. I want to suggest that you come and stay in an hotel, for which I insist on making myself responsible. In that way we should have the pleasure of seeing you at meals whenever you liked, and you would be completely free.
I do hope you will be able to come, and then we can discuss philosophy (which is always in season) and oysters, which unfortunately are not.
With affectionate greetings from us both.
Yours ever
Van
Senor Don Ramón Pérez de
Ayala,
2, rue Daubigny, PARIS (XVII).
179
CARTA N.º 10
FOREIGN OFFICE, S. W.
1.
19th August, 1937.
My dear Ramón,
You will remember that on the 10th August you asked me whether it would be possible to make enquiries about, or render assistance to, a number of Spaniards who were anxious to leave Spain. The matter has been looked into by the competent Department, and I find that we have already interested ourselves in all the people you mention, with the exception of the Collantes family.
With regard to Senor La Cierva, who has placed himself under the protection of the Norwegian flag, you may care to know that our Chargé d’Affaires at Valencia has reported that, in view of the fact that a general agreement is at present being negotiated between the Valencia authorities and the various foreign Governments concerned, for the evacuation of the inmates of the foreign Legations in Madrid, intervention on our part is likely to hinder rather than help. In these circumstances, as I am sure you will appreciate, we have thought it wiser not to pursue this case.
Our Embassy at Valencia is fully acquainted with the details of the case of Senor Villaverde, and our Embassy at Hendaye with that of Dr. Bago, and everything possible is being done for these two gentlemen, though you will appreciate that their Spanish nationality precludes any official action on our part.
With regard to the Collantes family, I am afraid we can do nothing as we have no Consular representative who can properly take up cases in the Santander region. I can only suggest that an application to the International Red Cross at Geneva might possibly help this family.
Senor Mugurusa has, as you know, now reached England.
Yours ever
Van
Don Ramón Pérez de Ayala.
180
CARTA N.º 11
44, Park Street, W.
1.
16th November, 1937.
My dear Ramón,
Many thanks for your letter. I am most sorry to hear of your illness. I do sincerely trust that you will soon be better and that there is no danger of complications. Sarita joins me in sending her sympathy and affectionate messages.
I hope you will soon be well again and that you will then be coming to London once more. You know how interested I always am to have news of you. Write again soon when you are really better.
Yours ever
Van
Senor Don Ramón Pérez de
Ayala,
2, rue Daubigny, PARIS (XVII).