The spy who repaid me
From Mrs Juliet Brooks
Sir: I read David Pryce-Jones's savage commentary on Anthony Blunt's character and scholarship (Books, 10 November). The Blunt I knew was a very different person.
We did two trips to Naples together in the 1970s with my small cultural tour company. He was almost blind at the time, lectured brilliantly and guided us through the small streets of Naples from memory. I only realised this after he had undergone his cataract operation, and I am sure no one else realised it either.
More importantly, I should like to mention that when he was exposed my company had just sent out another brochure entitled 'Naples with Sir Anthony Blunt'. I managed to get a message to Anthony, who was in hiding. He rang me and told me how terribly sorry he was that he had put me in this predicament, and that unfortunately there was no alternative to cancelling the trip, as our only clients would be 'journalists wanting to interview him'. He said that we would be very out of pocket and that I must let him know how much, so that he could repay us.
Surely this shows that, disgraced and under enormous pressure as he was, this was not a man who cared nothing for human beings.
However, David Pryce-Jones does not in any way answer the question of why Blunt did it. Calling him a shit is obviously not the answer.
Juliet Brooks
London W8
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