FOREWORD
Violet Trefusis s life was a long love-affair with France.
Already as a child she was fluent in French， encouraged by
Edward VII， the most francophile of British sovereigns. She
accompanied the King and her mother， Alice Keppel， on
visits to Paris and s3jours at Biarritz. The King liked to
converse with her in French and addressed her as mon petit .
The 1920 s found Violet and her husband， Denys Trefusis，
living in Paris， with a country home， the medieval tower at
St Loup de Naud， a home with Proustian associations. Violet
became a personage in the pre-war French literary scene， a
familiar figure at the most celebrated salons， a friend of
Colette， Cocteau and many others. She was one of the ，~ery
few English writers I Beckford， Wilde， Firbank are the
most celebrated I who wrote with equal ease in French and
English.
With Hunt the Slipper the cast of characters is entirely
English， yet the French influence is felt on almost every page.
What is fascinating is the extent to which Nigel is Violet and
that his beloved home， Ambush， is Violet s Tour de Saint
Loup. Ambush and St Loup are far more than houses. They
are creations which mirror the personalities of their creators.
Nigel Benson is， in fact， a vehicle to express the
inclinations， tastes， and prejudices of the author. Perhaps
some explanation of Violet s delight in the life of Paris is to
be found in Nigel s remarks to Caroline on the subject of the
role of women in Paris:
They go on being young and admired much longer in Paris than they
do in London. The French haven t the cult of youth like we have in
England. A mature and experienced woman， providing she is clever
and witty， has more success in Paris than a pretty， untried girl.
Like Violet， Nigel loved the winter . He understood that
winter was kinder to middle age than summer .
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