The Original List of Emma`s Party Guests

Another reference to J.O.- Johann Orth/Johann Salvator - being a very large man. Castillon also mentions this. Ludmilla "Milly" Stubel was the wife of Johann Orth.
Emma Bardac




Marcel Proust


Pierre Louys


Claude Debussy

Dear Jill
Thank you for all the nice things you said about the bird painting. It made my day. I read your piece on Sauniere and Limoux. Enthralling as always. I am still working on Castillon. Will be going up to London this coming weekend to consult with a friend on certain passages. At present working on that house-party at La Diva's (Emma Calve) and what they got up to and think I have identified most of the guests mentioned with some certainty. CD = Debussy, EB = Emma Bardac his mistress and later wife (1908); P = the Polish pianist Paderewski maybe; Leconte = the symbolist, decadent poet and writer of pornographic novels is I think Pierre Louys who inspired Debussy's L'Apres Midi d'une Faun; Marcel = Proust based on the fact that his A la Recherche de Temps Perdues is certainly an oustanding novel of the 20th century;JO = ? this one is a puzzle I must admit but could it be Johann Orth the 'lost' Archduke turned sailor? His morganatic wife was a singer in Vienna I think named Ludmilla ? known as Millie although Castillon says Molly. But wasn't Johann Orth officially dead by this time? The Ser is surely Sar Peladan. Anyway the work goes on. Trust you are well and no nasty side-effects from flue jab. Will keep in touch,
kindest regards,
Colin H.