Ngaio Marsh Her Life in Crime (53 page)

261
dose of 6 antibiotic
Letter from NM to DM, 22 May 1971, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

262
very small
Letter from NM to DM, 8 Jun 1971, ibid.

262
There’s no denying
Letter from NM to DM, 25 Jun 1971, ibid.

262
another great chunk
Letter from NM to DM, 25 Jun 1971, ibid.

263
Bernard & Laura
Letter from NM to DM, 14 Aug 1971, ibid.

263
I must say I still
Letter from NM to DM, 29 Nov 1971, ibid.

263
Talk about a working
Letter from NM to DM, 20 Dec 1971, ibid.

263
All I can say
Letter from NM to DO, 4 Aug 1971, MS-Group-1635, ATL.

263
exhausting but memorable
Letter from DO to NM, 23 May [1972], ibid.

264
really quite frail
Letter from DO to Nora [?], 15 Feb 1972, ibid.

264
happy arrival
Letter from NM to DM, 26 Jan 1972, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

264
Henry V
is on
Letter from NM to DM, 1 Apr 1972, ibid.

264
again that vital
MS-Group-1635, ATL.

264
I hope most ardently
Letter from NM to DM, [c. May-Jun] 1972, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

265
Don’t be so silly
Olivia Spencer Bower Papers, Archives, CAG Te Puna o Waiwhetu.

265
Rehearsals going
Letter from NM to DM, [Aug] 1972, MS-Papers-1946, ATL, Wellington.

265
I couldn’t bear you
Letter from NM to DM, 19 Sep 1972, MS-Papers-1946, ATL, Wellington.

265
I was lost
Letter from Bruce Mason to NM, MS-Group-1635, ATL, Wellington.

265
Every seat was taken
Olivia Spencer Bower Papers, Archives, CAG Te Puna o Waiwhetu.

266
We made a net profit
Letter from NM to DM, 16 Nov 1972, MS-Papers-1946, ATL, Wellington.

266
Throughout the rehearsal
Letter from NM to AF, 18 Oct 1972, AF’s private papers.

266
Lucy was black, sleek
Email from JE to author, 2 Dec 2007.

267
I have a sneaking feeling
NM File, HC, Glasgow.

268
The Oratory dome
Letter from NM to JS, 25 Nov 1960, MS-Papers-0280-29, ATL, Wellington.

268
$14,000 guarantee
Letter from DO [?] to Edmund Cork, 10 Apr 1972, MS-Group-1635, ATL, Wellington.

268
I’m afraid that poor little Nicola
Letter from NM to DM, 16 Nov 1972, MS-Papers-1946, ATL, Wellington.

268-69
On the night
Email from AF to author, 26 Feb 2008.

269-70
The new book is giving [and following quotes]
Letter from NM to DM, 10 Apr 1973, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

[I] flung up both feet
Ibid.

I pulled myself together
Ibid.

new professional Court Theatre’s
Ibid.

South Pole whistling up
Letter from NM to DM, 2 Jul 1973, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

271
I wish she could have stayed
Letter from NM to DM, 2 Jul 1973, ibid.

271
She’s very thin & worn
Letter from NM to DM, 8 Aug 1973, ibid.

271
I’m getting myself trained
Letter from NM to DM, 11 Aug 1973, ibid.

271
It makes a noise
Letter from NM to DM, 21 Aug 1973, ibid.

271
which is better
Letter from NM to DM, 25 Sep 1973, ibid.

271
We laughed ourselves sick
Ibid.

271
Syl is marvellous
Letter from NM to DM, 1 Apr 1972, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

272
I’ve found a tenant
Letter from NM to DM, 20 Dec 1973, ibid.

272
Over the past three decades
Letter from NM to DM, 14 Jan 1974, ibid.

272
which were a howling success
Letter from NM to DM, 7 Feb 1974, ibid.

272
Yours is a second home
Letter from NM to DM, 9 Mar 1974, ibid.

272
Dear Jonathan Elsom
Letter from NM to DM, 15 Apr 1974, ibid.

272
Thank the Lord
Letter from NM to DM, 5 May 1974, ibid.

273
Hollywoodhouse was something
Letter from NM to DM, 9 Jun 1974, ibid.

273
At the moment he’s editing
Letter from NM to DM, 15 Jul 1974, ibid.

273
scalped, (literally)
Letter from NM to DM, 19 Aug 1974, ibid.

273
I’m amusing myself
Letter from NM to DM, 15 Jul 1974, ibid.

274
I’ve got to pop into
Letter from NM to DM, 19 Aug 1974, ibid.

274
Will have to begin
Letter from NM to DM, [c. Nov] 1974, ibid.

274
She also accompanies me
Letter from NM to DM, 9 Jan 1975, ibid.

274
Jonathan Elsom has a big part
Letter from NM to DM, 1 Aug 1975, ibid.

275
I shall leave [England]
Letter from NM to DM, 27 Jun 1975, ibid.

275
It
was
worth doing
Letter from NM to DM, [c. Dec] 1975, ibid.

276
the best
Letter from NM to DM, 3 Feb 1976, ibid.

276
It’s marvellous
NM File, HC, Glasgow.

276
very-up bucking letter
Letter from NM to DM, 2 Jun 1976, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

277
this was at the request
Letter from NM to DM, 3 Feb 1976, ibid.

277
At the moment I’m re-reading
Letter from NM to DM, 3 Feb 1976, ibid.

277
Lieut. Pinkerton
Letter from NM to DM, 2 Jun 1976, ibid.

277
two hard-case items
Fox interview.

278
mass of desultory notes
Letter from NM to DM, 23 Jul 1976, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

278
I’m sure you were saddened
Letter from DO to NM, 9 Mar 1976, NM File, HC, Glasgow.

278
Which ranges from one lady
Letter from NM to DM, 14 Sep 1976, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

278
The parents are kindly
Letter from NM to DM, 19 Nov 1976, ibid.

278
Freddie & Eve Page’s
Letter from NM to DM, 24 Jan 1977, ibid.

278
I must say I thoroughly
Ibid.

279
clad in a ridiculous
Letter from NM to DM, 10 Apr 1977, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

279
with the result that this little room
Letter from NM to DM, 20 May 1977, ibid.

279
I shall have to learn
Letter from NM to DM, 26 Jun 1977, ibid.

279
thoroughly professional Christopher
Moore, ‘When Wexford was Alleyn’,
New Zealand Memories,
No. 62, Oct-Nov, p. 50.

279
stand-up fight
Letter from NM to DM, 24 Nov 1977, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

280
come up & hold the fort
Letter from NM to DM, [c. Dec] 1977, ibid.

280
did a spot of figure-skating
Letter from NM to DM, 6 Apr 1978, ibid.

280
just in time to see
Letter from NM to MB and JB, 8 May [1978], MS-Group-1635, ATL.

280
Ngaio has a delightful room
Letter from Sylvia Fox to DM, [May] 1978, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

281
Many congratulations
Letter from Elizabeth Walter to NM, NM File, HC, Glasgow.

281
I feel this is probably
Letter from Robert Knittel to NM, 23 Feb 1978, ibid.

281
been interrupted so often
Letter from NM to RK, c. 23 Feb 1978, ibid.

281
[It] hung round my neck
Letter from NM to Edmund Cork, 3 Jan 1978, ibid.

281
Obviously there is more
Letter from NM to JB, 23 Oct 1978, MS-Group-1635, ATL.

281
They linger in my mind
Letter from
EW,
6 Mar 1978, NM File, HC, Glasgow.

282
Grave Mistake
seems to be beating
Letter from NM to MB, 27 Mar 1979, MS-Group-1635, ATL.

282
We write
to thank you
Letter from NM and Sylvia Fox to DM, 8 Aug [c.1978], MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

283
lifted the level
Letter from NM to JE, 14 May 1979, JE’s private papers.

283
true metier
Letter from NM to Bruce Mason, 20 Feb [1978], MS-Group-1635, ATL.

283
It may turn out to be
Letter from NM to DM, 10 Aug 1978, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

283
My visit to Johnny
Letter from NM to MB, 22 Jul 1978, MS-Group-1635, ATL.

283-84
Drawers opened
Ibid.

284
One begins to wonder
Letter from NM to DM, 29 Oct 1978, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

284
I’m glued to my work
Letter from NM to DM, 26 Oct 1978, ibid.

284
danger of letting it
Letter from NM to DM, [c. Nov] 1978, ibid.

284
Presents, visits
Letter from NM to DM, 7 Jan 1979, ibid.

284
The which said
Memo from M. Reese, 21 Jan 1980, NM File, HC, Glasgow.

284
We had an enormous
Letter from EW to NM, 9 May 1980, ibid.

285
Fossilized or not
Letter from NM to
EW,
20 May 1980, ibid.

285
[Max Cryer comment]
Email from Max Cryer to author, 28 Jun 2007.

285
My memory is deteriorating
Letter from NM to JB [c. 1981], MS-Group-1635, ATL.

285
her life since the early fifties
David Elworthy to EW, 11 Apr 1980; EW to David Elworthy, 18 April 1980, NM File, HC, Glasgow.

285
It’s been tricky work
Letter from NM to MB, 29 Jan 1981, MS-Group-1635, ATL.

286
I took arm loads
Wilkinson interview with author.

286
I certainly ran
Voice recording: ‘Reflections on Ngaio Marsh (and interviews with Ngaio Marsh, 7 and 24 April 1978)’, Bruce Harding, 23 Dec 2007.

287
She’s as brave as a lion
Letter from NM to DM, 7 Jan 1979, MS-Papers-1946, ATL.

287
I was so happy
Letter from NM to DM, c. Dec 1978, ibid.

287
It’s been in my head
Letter from NM to EW, 2 Feb 1982, NM File, HC, Glasgow.

289
It was extremely difficult
Letter from NM to JB, 5 Feb 1982, MS-Group-1635, ATL.

290
magnificent Dutchie,
Letter from NM to JE, 26 Sep 1981, JE’s private papers.

290
She skidded down hill
Letter from NM to MB, 30 Jun 1981, MS-Group-1635, ATL.

290
Ngaio was in great form
Letter from Rosemary Greene to JE, c. 9 Mar 1982, JE’s private papers.

290
I don’t know what
Letter from NM to EW, 2 Feb 1982, NM File, HC, Glasgow.

290
I’ve had a cable
Letter from NM to JB, 5 Feb 1982, MS-Group-1635, ATL.

290
Well, my sweetie-pie
Letter from NM to JE, 16 Feb 1982, JE’s private papers.

291
Helen Holmes rang up
Lascelles interview with author.

291
The days leading up
Letter from Jean Esquilant to JE, 3 Mar 1982, JE’s private papers.

291
There is going to be
Letter from Rosemary Greene to JE, c. 9 Mar 1982, JE’s private papers.

291
chaste reticence
Simon Acland, public tribute to Ngaio Marsh, delivered Christchurch Cathedral, 26 Feb 1982.

292 [Copy of manuscript arriving]
Mannings interview with author.

292
I’m just delighted
Letter from William Phillips to EW, 4 Mar 1982, NM File, HC, Glasgow.

292
I am delighted about this
Letter from EW to Pat Cork, 8 Jun 1982, ibid.

293
[Deborah Walton memories]
Walton interview with author.

293
Now, remember
Fox interview with author.

293
a beautiful black cat
Fox and Walton interviews with author.

293
She was really worried
Fox interview with author.

‘Do you feel an uncomfortable heat at the pit of your stomach, sir? and a nasty thumping at the top of your head?…I call it detective fever…’

The Moonstone
by Wilkie Collins (1868)

Like detection, the fever of research and writing is as exacting as it is rewarding. What keeps me going are people I meet along the way who share the fever with me, and make the journey worthwhile. To all those whose heads have thumped a little on my behalf, I thank you.

Our vision of Ngaio Marsh is as vivid as it is today because of the precious memories and memorabilia that her friends and family have kept and treasured. I have had the greatest privilege of meeting and working on this project with the following special people in Ngaio’s life. I would like to thank them for their insights and unstinting support: Jonathan Elsom, Annette Facer, Gerald Lascelles, Elric Hooper, John Dacres-Mannings, Jean Crabtree, Roy Mannings, Richard and Ginx Fox, Barbara Webb, Bob Scott, Simon Acland, John and Rosemary Acland, Judie and Malcolm Douglass, Rosemary and Mike Greene, Joy Wilkinson, Deborah Walton, Anne and Harry Atkinson, Alistair Johnson, Marian Minson, Brian Bell, Donald Munro, Max Cryer, Shirley O’Connor, Libby and Denver Glass, Charlotte Wilson, Leslie Shaw, Marie Gaut, and Henrietta Garnett (whose conversation was the inspiration for this book). I would like to pay a special tribute to the vision of Lady Doris McIntosh, who gave to the nation one of the richest legacies—Ngaio’s letters.

My research has been greatly assisted by the excellent scholarship of the following academics and writers. I am immensely grateful to Dr Margaret Lewis, Dr Bruce Harding, Dr Glyn Strange, Carole Acheson, Professor Howard McNaughton, Paul Bushnell and Dr Douglas Munro, and to my own superb lecturer in Shakespeare, Professor David Gunby. I am also indebted to Rowan Gibbs and Richard Williams for their very helpful bibliography.