NATASHA SPENDER
49
Ano ther perenni a l fantasy / rea l-life compos ite figure was the rich
fa ther of one o f hi s "girlfriends" whom Raymond , never having met
him , imagined as a Harl an Po tter. He wo uld in imagina tion rehearse a
sess ion o f ha rd ba rga inin g whi ch used to begin with the augu st and icy
"Mr. Po tter" say ing: " I can 't put it out of my mind , Mr. Chandl er, tha t
you w ish to ma rry my daughter for her money" .... "That is certa inl y
a factor," Chandl er would repl y; a fter which with a ll roya lty figures a t
hi s fin gertips he would po int out how much he was worth , and so on ,
reminiscent o f hi s stori es o f hi s " bruta l barga ining with Ho ll ywood
mogul s." He himself la ter reali zed tha t thi s scene rela ted to hi s
inability to wo rk durin g this time and to fea rs abo ut his continued
earning power since he was very keen to lead a life of secure and stylish
luxury.
La ter in May he moved from the Connaught to a spacious
apa rtment o verl ooking the trees in Ea ton Square, which Alison had
found and helped him to arra nge, though he was quite obstreperous
about her sugges tion s fo r making it mo re comfo rtable. There must
have been times wh en o ur help reminded him too sharpl y of his loss,
for Cissy had been very fond of rea rranging furniture.
It
was near to
j ocelyn and to Alec Murray, a lso no t fa r from Helga Greene, a new
fri end who a lso gave him as much a ttenti on as she could amid a busy
life. Fo r th e next few weeks Ea ton Squa re life became an amazin g
succession o f contras ts: troughs o f illness and mi sery, crests of exuber–
ant fes ti ve ges tu res. After one of our a ll-day vigils by rota when he had
been pa rticul arl y ill and irritabl e, he could be suddenl y jubilant o r
contrite, and lav ish presents would appea r-who le sprays o f o rchids to
j ocel yn , red roses to me, o r (most endearing, as Ali son sa id ) the four–
page letter of apo logy typed in the sma ll hours and sent by specia l
messenger if hi s depo rtment and contentio usness had been , as he
would own , into lerable, and he was a fra id he had tri ed hi s fr iends too
far.
He a lterna ted no t onl y in mood but a lso between a cl ear idea o f hi s
friend s' desi re to help and compul sions to test out their staying power
by provoking them with o utrageous behav io r into, as he very much
feared.
possib ly
deserting him . Sometimes he would tota ll y igno re the
"onl y nowers o r choco la tes" rul e and a box from a jewell er arrived and
would be sent back to the shop. However he could on occasio ns become
very di stressed no matter how tactfull y one declined, and it became
useless and even unkind to argu e. T hen we accepted happil y, rea lizin g
that these lav ish ges tures were bo th pure gra titude and the fantasy o f
hi s novel s roll ed into one.
During a parti cul a rl y bad bo ut of hi s illness, j ocelyn and 1
