COLETTE exhausted from her lecture tour.

Sidonie Gabrielle Colette , known as COLETTE (1873-1954)

Autographed letter signed to Hélène Berthelot.

Two large quarto pages on blue paper with the letterhead of the Claridge Champs-Elysées Hotel. [Place of publication unknown]

"It's true that I'm a romantic."

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“Dear Hélène, It seems I came back on the train that was bringing you both home! But I didn’t know, because I was sick with bronchitis picked up on a lecture tour (29 cities in two months). Bronchitis that had taken on a nasty turn with pulmonary edema… Fie! It was Maurice Goudeket who spotted you, and who saw Philippe as a very lively and excellent figure.”

How kind of you to send me such a warm note from there! The story of Bailly and the  Intràn —and I only know it superficially—seems to me like something out of a Renaissance chronicle, full of poisonings. I admit I'm a romantic. But still! I know our friend Bailly is full of plans and energy.

If you have the time, the inclination, and the kindness to give me five minutes (I'm not leaving again until the 25th and I can't go out freely yet), you would be a darling of Hélène. I love you both and send you kisses, and I am always wholeheartedly your old friend Colette.