To George Sturgis
Hotel Bristol,
Rome. October 23, 1925
Dear George,
It is a good idea of yours, if you can leave your children and your business in safe hands, to come with Rosamond for a trip to the Old World, but I wish it could have been in the Spring or summer, rather than in February and March. When the time comes, I will see if it is feasible to leave Rome in order to meet you: the Riviera is not very far away, but once there I should hardly feel like returning to Rome, so that my working winter season would be sadly cut short. That is the chief obstacle which I foresee to joining you. On the other hand, all would not be loss to you if you decided to come to Rome, because there is no place better worth seeing, and you would find the climate far better than that of Avila or of the Loire at that season. It is a pity that you shouldn’t both come and stay here at least a week: but I understand that your time is short, and your trip to Avila will take up a good deal of energy—not speaking Spanish—as well as of time. In France, on the beaten track, you will have no difficulty in getting on without much command of the language, because at the hotels you can speak English and on the road everybody will know what you want without much explanation. But the family in Avila, except your two aunts, will be reduced to pantomime—as you know from your previous visit, which I suppose you remember distinctly.
I am established here in a little suite quite luxuriously, and am enjoying a warm Indian summer after the chills of Paris. It is a mere continuation of my way of life, such as it was during the last two winters, and I find the routine of it very pleasant. As yet no friends have turned up: but I saw Onderdonk (with his queer gay mother) in Paris, and American professors turn up at intervals with letters of introduction, and give me a chance of playing the part of ancient sage visited by inquiring pilgrims.
Yours affectionately G Santayana.
From The Letters of George Santayana: Book Three, 1921-1927. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2002.
Location of manuscript: The Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge MA.