Saturday 9th December 1939

Quite better by tonight. And to think that once, in my youthful enthusiasm I wished to go adventuring in the Army; and was deterred by the fact that soldiers must be willing “to undergo vaccination, inoculation and re-inoculation as required”. I can still see those terrible words in the recruiting pamphlet, read so many years ago!

Echo today from the notes written here on November 22nd re the dark lady. Brandon (amazing man!) has apparently mentioned me to his young lady (Edith by name) and has secured an invitation for me to go along to a party at her house. When he came into the dining room and said “Edith wants you to go round on Sunday”, with seeming cordiality, I was staggered. So were the “snakes,” who sat all around me, as usual.
They forgot of course, that the mystery of the dark eyes at a window had appealed to me before I’d seen the witchy vampire eyes of Eileen.