were never treated in any way differently on account of their race. One really

cannot guess the reason for these absurd allegations - unless, quite

ludicrously, they originate from that brief, entirely insignificant few weeks in

the early thirties when Mrs Carolyn Barnet came to wield an unusual influence

over his lordship.

 

Mrs Barnet, the widow of Mr Charles Barnet, was at that point in her forties - a

very handsome, some might say glamorous lady. She had a reputation for being

formidably intelligent, and in those days one often tended to hear of how she

had humiliated this or that learned gentleman at dinner over some important

contemporary issue. For much of the summer of 1932, she was a regular presence

at Darlington Hall, she and his lordship often spending hour after hour deep in

conversation, typically of a social or political nature. And it was Mrs Barnet,

as I recall, who took his lordship on those 'guided inspections' of the poorest

areas of London's East End, during which his lordship visited the actual homes

of many of the families suffering the desperate plight) of those years. That is

to say, Mrs Barnet, in all likelihood, made some sort of contribution to Lord

Darlington's developing concern for the poor of our country and as such, her

influence cannot be said to have been entirely negative. But she was too, of

course, a member of Sir Oswald Mosley's 'blackshirts' organization, and the very

little contact his lordship ever had with Sir Oswald occurred during those few

weeks of that summer. And it was during those same weeks that those entirely

untypical incidents took place at Darlington Hall which must, one supposes, have

provided what flimsy basis exists for these absurd allegations.