Violet Keppel

Meanwhile, Mrs Keppel was busy arranging a marriage for Violet with Denys Robert Trefusis (1890–1929), son of Colonel Hon. John Schomberg Trefusis (son of the 19th Baron Clinton) and Eva Louisa Bontein.

A few days after the Armistice, Violet and Vita went to France for several months.

Because of Vita's exclusive claim, and her own loathing of marriage, Violet made Denys promise never to have sex with her as a condition for marriage.

Violet Trefusis (née Keppel; 6 June 1894 – 29 February 1972) was an English socialite and author.

She is chiefly remembered for her lengthy affair with the writer Vita Sackville-West that both women continued after their respective marriages.

In 1900, Violet's only sibling, Sonia Rosemary, was born.

Sonia was the maternal grandmother (and Violet therefore the great-aunt) of Queen Camilla, consort of King Charles III.

Trefusis is best remembered today for her love affair with the wealthy Vita Sackville-West.

When she was four years old, her mother became the favourite mistress of Albert Edward ("Bertie"), the Prince of Wales, who succeeded to the throne as King Edward VII on 22 January 1901.

He paid visits to the Keppel household in the afternoon around tea-time on a regular basis until the end of his life in 1910.

(George Keppel, who was aware of the affair, was conveniently absent at these times.)

In 1910, after the death of Edward VII, Mrs Keppel made her family observe a "discretion" leave of about two years before re-establishing themselves in British society.

When they returned to London, the Keppels moved to a house in Grosvenor Street.

At that time, Violet learned that Vita was soon to be engaged to Harold Nicolson and was involved in an affair with Rosamund Grosvenor.

Violet made it clear that she still loved Vita, but became engaged to make Vita jealous.

It was featured in novels by both parties; in Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando: A Biography; and in many letters and memoirs of the period roughly from 1912 to 1922.

This did not stop Vita from marrying Harold (in October 1913), who was also bisexual.

Vita and Harold maintained an open marriage.

In April 1918, Violet and Vita refreshed and intensified their bond.

By that time Vita had two sons, but she left them in the care of others while she and Violet took a holiday in Cornwall.

He apparently agreed, for on 16 June 1919 they married.

At the end of that year, Violet and Vita made a new two-month excursion to France: ordered to do so by his mother-in-law, Denys retrieved Violet from the south of France when new gossip about her and Sackville-West's loose behaviour began to reach London.

Virginia Woolf described this by analogy in her 1928 novel Orlando.

In this romanticized biography of Sackville-West, Trefusis is represented by the Russian princess Sasha.

The two women both wrote fictional accounts that referred to this love affair (Challenge by Sackville-West, and Broderie Anglaise, a roman à clef in French by Trefusis).

Aspects of Trefusis' character also featured in other novels, including Lady Montdore in Nancy Mitford's Love in a Cold Climate (1949), and Muriel in Harold Acton's The Soul's Gymnasium.

Each of the participants left extensive written accounts in surviving letters and diaries.

Alice Keppel, Victoria Sackville-West, Harold Nicolson, Denys Trefusis and Pat Dansey also left documents that referred to the affair.

Sackville-West's son Nigel Nicolson wrote the non-fiction Portrait of a Marriage (1973), based on material from his mother's letters, and adding extensive "clarifications", including some of his father's point of view.

Such works explored other aspects of the affair.

She may have been the inspiration for aspects of the character Lady Montdore in Nancy Mitford's Love in a Cold Climate and of Muriel in Harold Acton's The Soul's Gymnasium (1982).

Trefusis herself wrote many novels, as well as non-fiction works, both in English and in French.

Although some of her books sold well, others went unpublished, and her overall critical heritage remains lukewarm.

Born Violet Keppel, she was the daughter of Alice Keppel, who was married to George Keppel, a son of the 7th Earl of Albemarle.

Members of the Keppel family thought her biological father was William Beckett, subsequently 2nd Baron Grimthorpe, a banker and MP for Whitby.

Violet lived her early youth in London, where her family had a house in Portman Square.

Diana Souhami's Mrs Keppel and her Daughter (1997) provides an overview of the affair and of the main actors in the drama.

When Violet was 10, she met Vita (who was two years older) for the first time.

After that, they attended the same school for several years and soon recognised a bond between them.

When Violet was 14, she confessed her love to Vita and gave her a ring.