File

This file contains thirteen letters written during the month of December 1924, documenting the epistolary relationship between Léontine Poutré and Hercule Martin.

Léontine, who had previously asked Hercule if he would allow her to address him as "my good friend," receives her response in a letter dated December 2. Hercule answers, "Yes, I do allow it and accept the name of 'good friend,' even though we have not been corresponding for very long." Hercule then points out that such a title is a mark of great esteem on her part, and that he wants to be worthy of it. Léontine, who believes she has overstepped by having adopted this term so quickly, then backtracks and apologizes, saying that, even though they do not know each other well, she was just trying to do something nice for him by showing that he was not like her other, more mundane correspondents. To which Hercule hastens to reply, "Please write back quickly and call me again the sweet name of 'good friend' to put my mind at ease."

In his letters, Hercule starts to become even more proactive: he invites Léontine to come and see a hockey game in Montreal and compliments her multiple times on her beautiful dark eyes. In his missive dated December 16, he yearns to have news of her. Noting that he has not received any letters for a week, he worries that he must have said something to offend her. As for Léontine, she starts to talk to him about her experiences, her feelings, and her view of the world. A somewhat melancholy person, she explains, for example, that her lack of siblings made her very sad when she was a child. The two writers also talk more directly about feelings of love, which inspires this observation from Hercule, "People can die of love in France and other old European countries, but I don't think that can happen in our country, or at least it is not as common." To which Léontine replies, "Love is a small mischievous god who may not kill people, but he does wage war on this poor heart, which is always ready to give itself."

These letters also chronicle their daily lives, which were punctuated by parties with friends and outings to the theatre, in Hercule's case, and by reading, embroidery and card parties (like Euchre and Five Hundred) for Léontine. The holiday season is also mentioned in these missives, which talk about the traditional midnight mass, Christmas celebrations with their respective families, gift shopping and happy new year wishes. Hercule's last letter, dated December 30, concludes with a promise to visit Léontine in Chambly in the near future and go for a stroll with her, "if possible."

In addition, the file contains rough drafts of Léontine's letters and envelopes.