160 “I think it more than likely”: This letter is excluded from Florence Bell, Letters, but appears in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 29
8. LIMIT OF ENDURANCE
On her trip to Hayyil, Gertrude kept two diaries, one for Doughty-Wylie (D-W) and the other as a reminder to herself of dates, facts, and events. She was also writing frequent letters to her parents and the occasional letter to Chirol. Her love letters to Doughty-Wylie probably continued, but were destroyed by him later so that they should not fall into the hands of his wife in the event of his death.
163 “If you knew the way”: GLB to Chirol, Dec. 1913, DUL
166 For a century the enmity: History of the Sauds and Rashids from T. E. Lawrence, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom
167 Charles Huber . . . Baron Nolde: From H. V. F. Winstone, Gertrude Bell; and Zahra Freeth and H. V. F. Winstone, Explorers of Arabia from the Renaissance to the Victorian Era
169 “Miss Bell passed straight through”: T. E. Lawrence to his brother, 10 Dec. 1913
169 a somewhat sensational biography: Thomas Lowell, With Lawrence in Arabia
170 “Muhammad says”: GLB letter, 27 Nov. 1913
170 “I hope you will not say No”: GLB letter
171 “This is not a gift for which I am asking”: GLB letter
171 “I don’t know that it is an ultimate”: GLB to Chirol, Dec. 1913
171 “A curious figure”: GLB letter, 12 Dec. 1913
173 “We struggled on”: An account of the incident on 21 Dec., GLB letter
174 “A preposterous and provoking episode”: GLB letter
174 “The stony hills”: GLB letter
175 “Extremely nasty dinner”: GLB letter
175 “a mountain of evils”: GLB diary for D-W, 16 Feb. 1914
176 “I was an idiot”: GLB letter, 9 Jan. 1914
177 “It’s all rather comic”: Ibid.
179 “Decided to run away”: GLB (personal) diary, 14 Jan. 1914
179 “There is something in the written word”: GLB diary for D-W, 16 Jan. 1914
180 “My troubles are over”: GLB letter, 11 Jan. 1914
180 “I have known loneliness in solitude”: GLB to Chirol
181 “I have cut the thread”: GLB diary for D-W, 16 Jan. 1914
182 “The Beduin has been born”: T. E. Lawrence, in preface to Arabia Deserta by Charles M. Doughty, p. 15
182 “a certain hierarchical conception”: Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, p. 102
182 “The Arab is never safe”: Gertrude Bell, The Desert and the Sown, p. 66
183 “Your safest course of action”: Ibid., preface, p. xxii
185 “When we were little”: GLB diary for D-W, 24 Jan. 1914
185 “There are no words to tell you”: GLB diary for D-W, 23 Jan. 1914
187 “A formidable looking person”: GLB diary for D-W, 2 Feb. 1914
187 “I saw his jurisdiction”: Ibid.
187 “the price of which . . . enchanting little beast”: GLB diary for D-W, 29 Jan. 1914
189 “Abandoned of God and man”: GLB diary for D-W, 2 Feb. 1914
191 “[It] springs from a profound doubt”: GLB diary for D-W, 16 Feb. 1914
192 “Princes and powers of Arabia”: Ibid.
192 “This morning we reached”: GLB letter, 19 Feb. 1914
9. ESCAPE
197 “In short, I was not to come further”: GLB diary for D-W, 2 Mar. 1914
197 “In Hayil, murder”: Ibid.
198 “[It was] a very splendid place”: Ibid.
199 “And then followed”: Ibid.
199 “Turkiyyeh says”: GLB (personal) diary, 28 Feb.
200 “Wind and dust, a little rain”: GLB (personal) diary
200 “I have just £40”: GLB diary for D-W, 2 Mar.
201 “I spent a long night”: Ibid.
202 was planning to murder: For the murder of Zamil ibn Subhan, see H. V. F. Winstone, Gertrude Bell, p. 210, and H. V. F. Winstone, The Illicit Adventure, ch. 5
202 “I passed two hours”: GLB diary for D-W, 6 Mar.
203 “I spoke to him”: Ibid.
204 “And why they have now given way”: Ibid.
204 “Everyone was smiling and affable”: GLB diary for D-W, 17 Mar.
204 “I went, and took an affectionate farewell”: GLB diary for D-W
205 “I fancy they meant”: GLB diary for D-W
205 “[The journey is] so wearying”: GLB diary for D-W
205 “Not one grown man”: GLB diary for D-W
206 “I fear when I look back”: GLB diary for D-W, 16 Feb.
207 “On a careful analysis of my feelings”: GLB diary for D-W, 26 Mar.
207 “ ‘In all the years”: GLB diary for D-W, 17 Apr.
208 “He does not get up till 12”: GLB diary for D-W, 28 Mar.
209 “I think the only things”: GLB diary for D-W, 26 Mar.
209 “He is too holy”: GLB diary for D-W, 28 Mar.
210 “The muddy waters of Tigris flood”: Ibid.
210 “Baghdad shimmered”: GLB diary for D-W, 12 Apr.
210 description of the court of the Caliph: Baghdad in the time of al-Muqtadir, from the account of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, in Hourani, History of the Arab Peoples
211 “Baghdad has taken to”: GLB diary for D-W, 13 Apr.
211 “Out under the open sky again”: Ibid., 13, 15, and 22 Apr.
212 “We went on boldly”: GLB diary for D-W, 16 Apr.
212 “They brought it to me”: GLB diary for D-W, 19 Apr.
213 “He received me with a kindness”: GLB diary for D-W, 22 Apr.
213 “We ate and the dusk fell”: GLB diary for D-W
214 “There are people camped in the hills”: GLB diary for D-W, 19 Apr.
214 “A great storm marched across our path”: GLB diary for D-W, 25 Apr.
215 “So here I am in a garden”: GLB diary for D-W, 1 May
215 “He looked at me in silence”: Later undated letter from GLB to Doughty-Wylie
10. WAR WORK
219 “On the Baghdad side”: Report by GLB to Wyndham H. Deedes of the Military Operations Directorate, sent on to Sir Edward Grey, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, WO 33 doc 48014
219 The magazines were full of photographs: Georgina Howell, In Vogue 1916–1975
220 “I have asked some of my friends”: GLB letter, Nov. 1914
220 “St. Loe remarked”: GLB letter, 17 Nov.
222 She stepped onto the quay: Description of Boulogne from Red Cross (periodical), Feb. 1915, p. 39
223 “I had a hideous interview”: GLB to Doughty-Wylie, in Winstone, Gertrude Bell, p. 229
224 “I think I have inherited”: GLB letter
224 Her first object was to create: The working of the W&MED, from a report to the Joint War Committee, spring 1915
224 “I’ve very nearly”: GLB letter, 16 Dec.
225 “It is fearful the amount”: GLB letter, 26 Nov.
226 “The cooks [were]”: GLB letter, New Year, 1915
226 “There is a recent order”: GLB to Chirol, 11 Dec. 1914
227 “Where we are under a cross fire”: GLB to Chirol
228 “I can work here all day long”: GLB to Chirol, 16 Dec.
228 “Some rather complicated business”: GLB letter
229 “In spite of dirt and gloom”: GLB to Chirol, 20 Jan. 1915, in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 23
229 “I hear that on Xmas Day”: GLB letter, 27 Dec. 1914
230 “At midnight”: GLB letter, 1 Jan. 1915
230 “It was full of errors”: GLB to Chirol, 20 Jan. 1915
231 “I feel tired”: GLB to Chirol, 27 Dec. 1914
232 “They have put all the correspondence”: GLB to Chirol, 12 Jan. 1915
232 “My work goes on”: Ibid.
233 “They reckon the average duration”: GLB to Chirol, 2 Feb.
234 “The Pyrrhic victory”: GLB to Chirol, 2 Feb.
235 “Don’t let anyone kno
w I’m coming”: GLB letter, 22 Mar. 1915
235 “I love Lord Robert”: GLB to Chirol, 1 Apr.
235 “I get rather tired”: GLB letter
236 “I could not possibly get away”: GLB letter, 5 Aug.
236 “It’s very dear of you”: GLB letter, 25 Aug.
236 “It is of vital importance”: GLB letter, 20 Aug.
237 “I’ve heard from David”: Recalled by Janet Courtney in an article on Gertrude in the North American Review, Dec. 1926
11. CAIRO, DELHI, BASRA
239 “I’m getting to feel”: GLB letter, 3 Jan. 1916
240 “an oasis of peace and quiet”: GLB letter, 6 Dec. 1915
242 the shrewd Hashemite Sharif of Mecca: History in Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom
243 On the eve of the world war: Abdullah’s visit to Sir Ronald Storrs in Ronald Storrs, Orientations; John Keay, Sowing the Wind: The Mismanagement of the Middle East 1900–1960, p. 41
246 “biff the French out of all hope”: T. E. Lawrence to D. G. Hogarth, 22 Mar. 1915
246 “I wonder, if I could choose”: GLB letter, 1 Jan. 1916
248 “Political union is a conception unfamiliar”: Undated paper, GLB Archives, Miscellaneous Collection, RL
249 As one commentator: Keay, Sowing the Wind
251 “I devoutly hope”: Charles Hardinge, letter to the Foreign Office, in Wallach, Desert Queen, p. 154
251 “It is essential”: GLB to Captain R. Hall, 20 Feb. 1916
252 “. . . the people in India cling”: Gilbert Clayton, from General Staff Army Headquarters, Cairo, 28 Jan. 1916
253 “It was at this time”: Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, My Indian Years 1910–1916, p. 136
253 “When I got Lord H’s message”: GLB letter, 24 Jan.
253 “I’m off finally at a moment’s notice”: GLB letter, 28 Jan.
255 “They get so bored”: GLB letter, 1 Feb.
255 “It was very wonderful seeing it”: GLB letter, 18 Feb.
256 “I have . . . talked about Arabia”: Ibid.
257 “The V. is anxious”: Ibid.
257 “She is a remarkably clever woman”: Lord Hardinge, Old Diplomacy
257 “I warned her”: Hardinge, My Indian Years
259 “I wish I ever knew”: GLB letter, 18 Mar.
261 “Today I lunched”: GLB letter, 9 Mar.
261 “To the south” . . . “I need not say” . . . “There are many things”: GLB to Chirol, 12 June 1916
263 “Nothing happens”: GLB letter, 27 Apr.
263 “This week has been greatly enlivened”: GLB letter, 9 Apr.
264 “. . . we rushed into the business”: GLB letter, 27 Apr.
265 “It never occurred”: GLB to Chirol, 13 Sept.
265 “He is . . . a most remarkable creature”: GLB letter, 24 May 1918, in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 87
266 When he was fifteen: Account of the capture of Riyadh from Keay, Sowing the Wind
267 “Ibn Saud is barely forty”: GLB, “A Ruler of the Desert,” in The Arab of Mesopotamia
268 “. . . the phenomenon of one of”: Sir Percy Cox of GLB’s work, in Florence Bell, Letters
268 “Last night I woke”: GLB letter, 15 July
268 “one’s bath water”: GLB letter, 29 July
269 “One wears almost nothing”: GLB letter, 27 Apr. 1916
269 “A box has just arrived”: GLB letter, 20 Jan. 1917
269 “Do you know”: GLB letter, 20 Sept. 1916
269 “The amount I’ve written”: GLB letter, 2 Mar. 1917
270 “Happy to tell you”: GLB letter, 13 Jan. 1917
270 “Officialdom . . . could never spoil”: Kinahan Cornwallis, introduction to Gertrude Bell, The Arab War: Confidential Information for GHQ Cairo, Dispatches for the Arab Bulletin
271 “The only interesting letters I have”: GLB to Chirol, 13 Sept. 1917
272 “I had a letter from Sir Percy”: GLB letter, 10 Mar. 1917
12. GOVERNMENT THROUGH GERTRUDE
The descriptions of the rule of the Ottoman Empire and of the British administration derive from Review of the Civil Administration of Mesopotamia prepared by GLB for the India Office, 1920.
274 “I unpacked my box”: GLB letter, 20 Apr. 1917
275 “I confess”: Ibid.
275 “Oh my dearest ones”: GLB letter, 17 May 1917, in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 60
276 “General Maude”: GLB letter, 22 Nov., ibid., p. 67
278 “Nowhere in the war-shattered universe”: GLB letter, 18 May
280 “Today there rolled in”: GLB letter, 2 Feb., in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 54
282 “Fahad Beg and I”: GLB letter, 26 May, ibid., p. 58
283 “ ‘. . . I summoned my sheikhs’ ”: GLB letter, 1 June
284 “Our office”: GLB letter, 24 May 1918
284 “I had a difficult time”: GLB letter, 24 Apr. 1917, in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 84
285 “I don’t really care”: GLB letter, 26 Oct.
286 “Please, please don’t supply”: GLB letter, 6 Sept.
288 “[She] had all the personnel”: Sir Percy Cox, in Florence Bell, Letters, p. 428
289 “The question of regulation of pilgrim”: GLB, Review of the Civil Administration of Mesopotamia
290 “It has resulted”: Ibid.
291 “We are put to it”: GLB to Chirol, 9 Nov. 1918, in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 67
293 “The Turkish educational programme”: GLB, Review of the Civil Administration of Mesopotamia
294 “We were all sitting”: Florence Bell, Letters, p. 402
295 “What I need”: GLB letter, 25 Jan. 1918, in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 75
295 “I regret to say”: GLB letter, 26 May 1917
296 “The nuns are making me”: GLB letter, 14 June 1918
296 “O Father Dearest”: GLB letter, 15 Feb. 1918, in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 77
296 “the drawback”: GLB letter, 22 Feb., ibid., p. 78
296 “I have been wishing”: GLB to Chirol, end 1917, ibid., p. 71
297 “Dearest Mother”: GLB letter, 28 Mar. 1918, ibid., p. 81
298 “. . . two most beautiful Arab greyhounds”: GLB letter, 30 Nov. 1919
298 “It’s a most attractive little beast”: GLB letter, 20 July 1920
299 “Last week you told me”: GLB letter, 2 Mar. 1917, in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 55
299 “One of my few consolations”: GLB letter, 5 Sept., ibid., p. 63
299 “there arrived a jeweller’s shop”: GLB letter, 25 Sept., ibid., p. 65
300 “The Devil Worshippers”: GLB letter, 28 June 1918, ibid., p. 89
301 “The underlying truth”: GLB letter, 10 Oct. 1920
13. ANGER
302 “. . . I might be able”: GLB letter, 17 Jan. 1919
303 “For the first quarter of an hour”: Ibid.
303 “When I come back”: GLB to Hon. Mildred Lowther, 6 July 1918
304 “I can’t tell you”: GLB letter, 16 Mar. 1919
308 “If we wish to apply”: GLB, “Self-Determination as Applied to the Iraq”
309 “If the Arab Nation assist England”: Telegram no. 233 from Kitchener, in Winstone, Gertrude Bell, pp. 243, 452
309 “I propose to assume”: GLB, “The Political Future of Iraq”
310 “[Maude] did not see his way”: And the story of Khanikin, GLB, Review of the Civil Administration of Mesopotamia
310 “In no part of Mesopotamia”: Ibid.
311 “We have taken on Khanikin”: GLB to Chirol, Dec. 1917
311 “Experts on Western Arabia”: A. T. Wilson, in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 110
312 “a Kurdish independent state”: GLB letter, 14 Aug. 1921
312 “Beloved Mother”: GLB letter, 16 Mar. 1919
313 “I’ve never been so well dressed”: GLB letter, 26 Sept. 1919
313 “Heaven knows”: GLB letter, 1 June 1917
314 “. . . Fa
ttuh looks older”: GLB letter, 17 Oct. 1919
315 “Marie has been invaluable”: GLB letter, 7 Dec. 1919
316 “I wonder how anyone can complain”: GLB letter, 6 May 1920
316 “I had a ladies’ tea party”: GLB to Chirol, 10 May 1918
317 “I find social duties rather trying”: Gordon, Gertrude Bell
317 “I really think I am beginning”: GLB to Chirol, 12 Feb. 1920
318 “I think we’re on the edge”: GLB letter, 10 Apr. 1920
318 “We are at our wits’ end”: In Margaret MacMillan, Peacemakers: The Paris Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War, p. 419
318 “I do not understand this squeamishness”: Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, companion vol. 4, part 1
319 “If only [the rebel tribes]”: GLB letter, 8 Aug. 1920
320 “The Nationalist propaganda increases”: GLB letter, 14 June 1920
320 “There they sit”: GLB letter, 14 Mar. 1920
321 “I was acutely conscious”: Ibid.
321 At the end of 1919: For the incident at Dair, Ibid.
323 “We share the blame”: GLB letter, 1 Feb. 1920
324 “The tribes down there”: GLB letter, 4 July 1920
325 “He was visibly put out”: GLB letter, 26 July 1920
325 “We are now in the middle”: GLB letter, Feb. 1920
325 “It’s touch and go”: GLB letter, 2 Aug. 1920
325 “Well, if the British evacuate”: GLB letter, 26 July 1920
326 “Rather a trying week”: GLB letter, 20 Dec. 1920
327 “She will take some handling”: Letter from A. T. Wilson, Oct. 1919
327 “My own feeling”: GLB letter, 12 Feb., in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 128
327 “I wish I carried more weight”: GLB letter, 12 Jan. 1920, ibid., p. 125
327 “I confess”: GLB letter, 23 May 1920
327 “Sir P.C.”: GLB to Chirol, 28 Dec. 1919
328 “. . . my own path”: GLB letter, 14 June 1920, in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 140
328 “Of course we can’t prevent it”: GLB letter, 14 June, ibid.
329 “I’ve just got Mother’s letter”: GLB letter, 17 Jan. 1921
330 “I’ve just written”: GLB letter, 7 Mar. 1920, in Burgoyne, Bell, 1914–1926, p. 131
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