Lord Cranfield as he wasn't
Sir: The quality which I found distasteful in Harold Nicolson's Diary was the pervasive assumption that he and his friends were a cul- tural elite, raised above the 'vulgar' world. This attitude of mind was evidently shared by some of his friends: the letter of Mr Robin McDouall perfectly illustrates it (27 September).
Mr McDouall can explain my criticism only by assuming that I am 'soured' by exclusion from the narrow circle of Nicolson and him- self : my name (he says), was not mentioned in their private conversation, and I was un- invited to Lady Colefax's discriminating parties. I can assure Mr McDouall that I often accepted invitations to Lady Colefax's hospi- table house, and greatly enjoyed her parties; but it would never occur to me, for that reason, to look down on those who were 'uninvited.' My standards of value, as of accuracy, are quite different from those of Mr McDouall.
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