PROUST, Marcel. Autograph letter signed and an autograph postscript [to an earlier letter, not present], both n.p. [Paris] and n.p. [May 1916], in the postscript (inscribed 'P.S.' at the head), beginning 'Je vous envoie le photo de Lady de Grey' and asking Lucien to lend it to Reynaldo [Hahn]; disputing Lucien's comment about an unidentified lady looking and being young, 'Elle ne l'est pas. Elle n'a pas l'air de l'être', and Lucien speaks of what she has done as if he did not know he would find it monstrous; then recalling that Lucien had expressed a preference for Cartier to Lalique, and saying that a young lady had asked him for a small nécessaire with a blue enamel watch which Maria Hahn had made for him, and Lucien may also have read about something of the kind which the Marquise de Casati had in Montesquiou's Madame de Castiglione; asking him when a young lady would use it, in the car or at dinner, when riding or in the country; also enquiring about a parasol and if robes de chambre in crêpe de chine were worn at a certain date, 4 pages, 8vo (with pencilled annotation in Daudet's hand (?) at the head, 'Tutoiement erreur de 1er page'); the letter [also May 1916] written in answer to Lucien's reply to the postscript, 'Pour le "nécessaire" j'y renonce, du reste je ne sais si j'ai été clair: je ne comptais le donner à personne, qu'à mon "héroine" (ce qui n'est pas coûteux)', and explaining that since she does not smoke, wear rouge or powder, he no longer wants her to have a 'nécessaire'; then returning to the subject of the unexpected visit [of the unidentified woman mentioned in the postscript above to some friends of Daudet's] and disagreeing with him about it, 9 pages, 8vo (together 13 pages, 8vo). The annotation of the postscript (which Daudet published as if it were a complete letter, Cahiers, V, no.XXXII) refers to the decision taken earlier that Proust and Lucien should 'tutoyer' each other. Proust here uses the second person in the plural on the first page then reverts to the singular. He had met the beautiful Constance de Grey, later Marchioness of Ripon, at Madame Straus's salon in his youth (and later compared Céleste Albaret with her beauty). The information which he seeks so meticulously concerns the Narrator's gift to Albertine. In 1910 Proust had given to the two daughters of the Vicomte d'Alton a watch, 'ou nécessaire', in blue enamel, and when Cartier proved too expensive had ordered the gifts through Reynaldo Hahn's sister and Boni de Castellane. On another occasion he gave Colette d'Alton, the younger daughter, a gold handbag, such as the Narrator buys for Albertine (Painter, II, 149 and 165). In the letter, Proust also continues to agonise about the apparent gaffe committed by the unidentified woman, 'tu me dis "Si céla avait été jugé désagréable je ne l'aurais pas dit". Conception de l'amitié que je trouve peu gentille. Parce qu'alors on laisse ses amis faire les plus terribles gaffes, pour ne pas manquer à la gentillesse et à la bonne education'. He is absolutely convinced that something was said, and recalls another occasion when his mother, on his behalf, left something with Lucien's brother, and 'Je crois que ton frère a compris que Maman avait été pour lui faire une visite, ce qui eut été fort indiscret', but it was useless to explain; continuing on this theme and at last wondering why they are talking about such tedious things, particularly when he wanted to write about Dr. Nacquart, and other people. Jean Baptiste Nacquart had been doctor, creditor and friend of Balzac, and Daudet had apparently met his grandson. Daudet suppressed various names and the reference to Proust's mother's visit for publication. Kolb, XV, 111 and 112; Cahiers, V (XXXII and XXXIII).