<br ><br >FOREWORD<br >Violet Trefusis s life was a long love-affair with France.<br >Already as a child she was fluent in French， encouraged by<br >Edward VII， the most francophile of British sovereigns. She<br >accompanied the King and her mother， Alice Keppel， on<br >visits to Paris and s3jours at Biarritz. The King liked to<br >converse with her in French and addressed her as mon petit .<br > The 1920 s found Violet and her husband， Denys Trefusis，<br >living in Paris， with a country home， the medieval tower at<br >St Loup de Naud， a home with Proustian associations. Violet<br >became a personage in the pre-war French literary scene， a<br >familiar figure at the most celebrated salons， a friend of<br >Colette， Cocteau and many others. She was one of the ，~ery<br >few English writers I Beckford， Wilde， Firbank are the<br >most celebrated I who wrote with equal ease in French and<br >English.<br > With Hunt the Slipper the cast of characters is entirely<br >English， yet the French influence is felt on almost every page.<br >What is fascinating is the extent to which Nigel is Violet and<br >that his beloved home， Ambush， is Violet s Tour de Saint<br >Loup. Ambush and St Loup are far more than houses. They<br >are creations which mirror the personalities of their creators.<br > Nigel Benson is， in fact， a vehicle to express the<br >inclinations， tastes， and prejudices of the author. Perhaps<br >some explanation of Violet s delight in the life of Paris is to<br >be found in Nigel s remarks to Caroline on the subject of the<br >role of women in Paris:<br >They go on being young and admired much longer in Paris than they<br >do in London. The French haven t the cult of youth like we have in<br >England. A mature and experienced woman， providing she is clever<br >and witty， has more success in Paris than a pretty， untried girl.<br >Like Violet， Nigel loved the winter . He understood that<br > winter was kinder to middle age than summer .<br >Q<br ><br >