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The Mitford family was now sadly fragmented with most of them not speaking to at least one other person. Nancy was not allowed to visit Diana at Wootton, or Decca at Rotherhithe, although she and Decca maintained an occasional correspondence. Diana could now visit her parents, but Mosley was still forbidden, and even when Sydney let Rutland Gate it was with the proviso to the tenants that Oswald Mosley must never be allowed to set foot in the house. Nor was Diana allowed to visit Decca, for her support of Mosley made her ‘the enemy’. Unity was able to write to Decca but not allowed to visit while Esmond was at home. Debo was forbidden by her parents to visit Decca, but she did so secretly a few times and recalls Esmond as being ‘very charismatic – sort of lit up inside’.47 She wrote frequently to Decca giving news of the wider family: ‘The other day there was a wonderful family gloat, a cocktail party given by Aunt Helen48 for a farewell for Rosemary who is going to New Zealand for three years.’49 Pam – who had suffered a miscarriage – was away travelling a lot with Derek. Only Tom was welcomed everywhere.
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Mary S. Lovell (The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family)