Trinidad, November 6^th 1946

Dear Claudia

I've written you a long letter which I shall mail from America but I'm told these airmail forms go very quickly, so I'll just say we fly to New York tonight - leaving midnight (isn't that a pity). We should arrive NY at 12:00pm, but I'm told not to count on that. I am booked for two nights in NY.

We came here instead of Curacao. It isn't a place I'd want to live - seems small and confined - and no local arts or crafts. The people are the slowest moving I ever saw.

Everything is fixed up re the P.I. quota/visa, so my passport shouldn't be taken from me. Hugo is fine. Really couldn't be easier, and everyone speaks highly of him. He is a very good introducer, and as a result of him I am on intimate terms with many of the hotel people. I had the Kerbys to dinner last night, after they took me to a cocktail party. I met a good friend of Noel's - nephew of Lady (?) Hilary in China. Do you know her? He says he was the HK bank manager. His own name is Napier, and his family lives in China.

If I keep on I'll only repeat, so I won't. But I haven't said yet, how grand it was to be with you and Pinkie, and how much I must thank you for. I have thought of you and wished I could share the heat, which is really terrific. I am glad to be leaving. My clothes are in a sad state, as you can imagine; the white suit was ironed and I wore it three times, but it's beyond the pale now. The red gingham seems a curious garb for a stylish hotel. Not that the effect is really so stylish. Half of the men are without coats.

Lots of love - Mollie