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50 THIS DIFFICULT INDIVIDUAL
as only he could do, a grim picture of his increasing depression and
his determination to end his life. He had thought it through very
carefully, he told her, and had decided to dose himself with poison.
As this began to take effect, he would throw himself under one of
the omnibuses that rolled past on Notting Hill. No one, he assured
her, would think to perform an autopsy on a man who had been
run over by a bus. The insurance company would provide for his
family, as he intended to insure himself for a large sum just before
undertaking this "accident", and his own problems would be over.
The Ford-Hunt affair seems to have been more literary than
passionate—the protagonists had both been listed in the British
Who's Who for their efforts—and Violet Hunt was not seriously
inclined to assume charge of the depressed writer until she discovered,
in a pocket of Ford's dressing gown, which he had left
temptingly near, a large bottle that was dramatically labelled
"POISON". She moved into the offices of the Review.
A marriage is said to have taken place at some point between
the married Ford and the unmarried Violet Hunt, perhaps in
Germany, where the couple resided for several years after the
collapse of the Review. Ford claimed, in his customary vague
manner, that he had gotten a divorce from his first wife in Germany,
but apparently she had never been informed of it. At any rate,
when the consort wrote a letter to the London press about some
literary matter, she signed it impressively as "Violet Hunt Hueffer,"
indicating that she was now the legitimate spouse. The first, or original,
Mrs. Hueffer was outraged by this act, which she considered to
be unpardonable insolence, and she sued Violet Hunt for libel. At
the same time, she had Ford jailed for nonpayment of alimony. 37
Thus he joined the great company of twentieth century writers
and artists who have served their time. The lack of a prison record
today is a serious indictment of one's talent, and it excites suspicion
among one's fellow artists as well. Having spent much of the last
two decades in visiting various imprisoned intellectuals, I have become
familiar with the sort of government housing that is provided
for the creative personalities of the time. Ezra's first advice to me was
"Keep out of jail. It is too great a restriction on your activities."
After leaving the Holland Park office to Mr. Chandler, the Ford-
Hunt ménage was established at South Lodge. The open house for