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On Board "Berengaria". Dec. 12th 1934.
My darlings,
I meant to write you a long letter, but since Monday we have struck a patch of fearfully rough weather - and it has just been a question of hanging on to something and everythng else has had to go! Meals are like a harlequinade, everything suddenly flies off the table and one's chair rushes back with one in it! In the "lounge" all the chairs suddenly rush across the room and several people have got hurt, and going up and down stairs is a penance and as for sleeping!. Monday night beds plunged about, the suitcases fought amongst themselves on the floor, the lovely flowers we had been sent crashed on to the ground. Last night we made the steward lash everything to everything else with ropes, and though we didn't sleep much it was a little better than before.
I wrote at Washington, didn't I? We had a perfect day in the way of weather and saw Mr. Wallace, Minister of Agriculture and Miss Perkins, Minister of Labour. We only saw them for a minute or two each but quite enough to see that they were interesting and very able people. Then there was/
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was a dinner at the Embassy in the evening and next day we travelled back and found your letters to our great joy - and a delicious letter from Johnnie. We went to the play in the evening and next morning I shopped at the most extraordinary place called Macey's Store which is so packed that you can hardly move in it and you go up to each floor by an escalator. I hated it at first but got quite brave about it!
We went to tea at Mrs. Vanderbuilts in an old brown stone house, one of the few left in New York. It is filled with old pictures, furniture and tapestries. She looks like a well dressed owl and you meet nothing but Americans who have married princes and so forth. John dined at a club that night and I picked him up and we went to the boat. I was half sorry to say goodbye to the jewelled line of New York.
We are a very literary company on board here - the Priestleys, Beverley Nichols and Hugh Walpole!
Poor Hugh Walpole is stricken with a sudden kind of arthritis and is in great pain. We go and sit by his bedside every evening about 6 o'clock.
You will all be amused to hear what friends we have made with the Priestleys. He is a most interesting man, ugly/
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ugly and at moments like a barking dog but always a nice dog and he and I have made great friends.. She is very quiet but very clever and interesting.
It will be fun to see you all again, it somehow seems an age since I have done so.
At this moment I am sitting clinging to the writing table digging my heels into the carpet to prevent myself from slithering away into the middle of the room - I don't feel a bit Christmassy and find it hard to believe that it is so near.
The Atlantic is magnificent but terrifying with these huge gray waves like mountains - they look like mountains even from this big ship even.
I wonder if you would mind sending this letter to Johnnie also to my mother and Marine as I may not see the latter for a few days and it might amuse them to see this. I think the ship is rolling less now. John is very well.
Your lovingest
"Susie"
