François MAURIAC (1885-1970). L.A.S. "Fr. M.", Paris March 2 - Lot 271

François MAURIAC (1885-1970). L.A.S. "Fr. M.", Paris March 29 [1935], [to Jacques Laval]; 1 page ¾ in-8 addressed to him. He assures his young friend, then a seminarian, that "I never withdrew my friendship from you. I only warned you that it was being established on a different plane - because you wanted it that way". He feels no remorse, "but I know the habit of 'spirituals' of turning everything into a 'cross' that others impose on them"; he can't have the same attitude with one of his son's friends as with a stranger, it's not his fault: "it's understandable, it's felt. It's a matter of reasoning and also of epidermis"... He pities him wholeheartedly for the ordeal the young man is about to undergo, "and if I could do anything"... He'll wait for him on Wednesday, after his correspondent has seen his son Claude...