The English novelist and satirist writes to his friend and confidante, Lady Mary Lygon, a British aristocrat and Russian princess by marriage. Waugh is distraught to hear that she has recently lost her faith.
Darling Blondie
Please do not be too proud to accept a little Easter present from me with my deep love.
I am very sad to hear you are sad. Loss of faith is the saddest thing that can happen to one. Do you positively disbelieve in the Christian revelation—I mean think the gospels are false—or are you simply in the mood when it doesn’t seem to matter whether they are true or false?
Do you think that perhaps the religion taught you by the Rev. Drunken Jones was all right for a pretty little girl but not enough for an adult woman? If that’s the case, as seems likely, would you let me introduce you to a real beast [priest] who would dispel your clouds? I think Anglicanism gets a lot of English people to heaven as long as they don’t put too much strain on it. But a time comes for others when they need something stronger & deeper.
I think you don’t like travel much, but if you ever thought of paying us a visit it would be a great joy to one & all.
All love
Bo
FURTHER READING
Read about Waugh’s 1953 BBC interview, once deemed “the most ill-natured interview ever broadcast.”