Bigelow Excused

In London, Countess Russell endeavored to excuse aged U. S. journalist-lecturer Poultney Bigelow for asserting* that famed British novelist-historian H. G. Wells seemed to him like "a lucky stock-broker or traveling salesman," on the now famous occasion of their meeting at Countess Russell's flat (TIME, Jan. 25). Said Countess Russell, famed as the anonymous author of Elizabeth and her German Garden, known to pre-War German society as the Countess von Arnim, before her marriage Miss Mary Annette Beauchamp: "Bigelow is full of generous admiration. He gilds one with his warm rays. I am persuaded that his anecdote about Wells was meant as praise. . . . Americans sometimes express their admiration . . . differently from us, that's all. . . . "On the other hand, / would very much like to be described as having the appearance of a lucky stockbroker. To me the terrible adjective 'dainty' is usually applied, as if I were a bit of lace or a frill. Perhaps Mr. Wells wouldn't mind being called 'dainty.' I am willing to exchange."

* In his autobiography, Seventy Summers, Longmans, Green & Co. ($10).