Cheers Randy! In '21-22 the British media developed something of an infatuation with Collins - prior to that, they had (to his considerable amusement) depicted him as a dour hater, a humourless, ruthless killer. One story had him leading a raid on some police barracks riding a white horse (as he laughed, he hadn't ridden a horse since the pony Gypsy on the family farm when he was a child, using her mane as a bridle). Once the media got a chance to see him, however, during the prolonged treaty negotiations, he fascinated both the press and London society. Kiernan was horrified by one rumour circulating that a prominant English socialite (wonder which one?) had announced she wished to spend the night with Collins - simply for the noteriety of it. He was forced to announce his engagement to Kitty in the Dail in order to dispel rumours - given voice by the Countess Constance Markievicz - that he was to marry Princess Mary and become the first Governor General of Ireland.
Lady Lavery certainly wanted the world, or at least her circle of friends, to believe that they had an affair - hopelessly obscuring the matter (there is the curious matter of what may or may not be interpolated passages in another hand in their correspondence). She had to be dissuaded from donning widow's weeds at his funeral, and later hurled herself on his grave to weep. Aside from slightly prurient questions about the exact nature of her friendship with Collins, however, she did have a positive influence on the treaty negotiations. She and Sir John provided an environment in which negotiating team members, such as Collins, Churchill and Birkenhead, could talk in an informal setting.
Lucy on the Rampage sounds like good fun! She and Lady Lavery seemed to me to have much in common - and perhaps their social sets overlapped, given that Sir John was an artist and society painter? He did a couple of paintings of Collins - one a portrait in London during the negotiations, the other of him lying in state after his assasination.
Another question that always intrigued me, and I can't remember if I asked you - did Lucile ever come into contact with Kathleen Scott? Kathleen, while not overly interested in clothes (one has trouble seeing her in a frothy Lucile number), was certainly part of the Bohemian art set. A friend of Isadora Duncan, she had studied sculpture under Rodin and was quite gifted (from memory, I seem to recall she did the
Captain Smith sculpture at Lichfield). She later married Edward Hilton Young, Lord Kennet, in 1927. Not always a likeable person, she's certainly a vivid and fascinating figure in London society at the time. Scott goes up in my estimation for chosing such a talented, unconventional, outspoken wife whom he obviously adored- even if the members of his expedition were not exactly enthralled with her! Cue grumble from Oates here.
