Quentin wrote that on a morning that might have been spring instead of winter, he and Norina set out at 6 A.M. in the darkness in a motorboat towards the Lido and open sea to meet Baba who was arriving on the "Conte Verde".

When Baba arrived in London on December 5th, it was a calm, still and warm morning. He stayed until the 14th at the Knightsbridge Hotel seeing old friends, but few new people.

We will now pick up Delia's account again, this time giving an insight into Baba's visit at the Knightsbridge Hotel, December 6th, 1932.

"His next visit to England was in December when he stayed at the Knightsbridge Hotel, S.W.I. London, and saw many people. Two of his American disciples were with him, Norina Matchabelli and Elizabeth Patterson, whom we met for the first time, and with both we were to have close associations.

"Norina Matchabelli and Elizabeth Patterson were both very valuable for his work on account of their large and varied social, artistic, and business connections. Norina had achieved fame as Maria Carmi, creating the part of the Madonna in her first husband's, Karl Volmuller’s*[sic] play, 'The Miracle'. Now, married to the handsome and popular Prince Matchabelli, they had made famous Matchabelli Perfumes. She was a strikingly beautiful and volatile woman, and she and Elizabeth worked devotedly for Baba's cause in the West. Christine was the little maid who waited on Baba. She became very drawn and later came with us to India. Baba said she was a very pure type and belonged to his group.

"One morning Baba said Margaret and I were to wash his hair. But I had to do it alone, as Margaret had a lesson and could not arrive in time. I was a bit nervous as I realized it was a great privilege. Not many people are allowed to touch Baba's hair. I can never forget how patient he was and the sort of childlike pure look on his face. And there was Kaka clucking around like a hen. I soon lost my anxiety of pulling or hurting Baba and we were all in good humor by the end. After this, Margaret and I were automatically the hair washers. At that time, Baba had a cloud of hair and after it was washed and combed, it stood out 'round his head in a sort of burnished halo. From that time, he always referred to me as 'the faithful one', but I felt in my heart that was rather dull and would much rather have some other characteristic that he liked.

"To please us, Baba had given us all Persian names earlier when in Venice: Delia, Leyla; Minta, Shalimar; Kitty, Saroja; Margaret, Zuleka; Audrey, Shirin; Kim, Ayisha; Zilla, Mumtasmi; Mabel, Firoze; Quentin Tod, Narid; Herbert, Sudama. At a later date were added: Norina, Noorjehan; and Elizabeth, Dilruba. For years afterwards when writing, he referred to me as his faithful Leyla.

"He saw many new people at the Knightsbridge and many others came to see him, including C. B. Purdom who had promised Baba to write his life. This promise was later kept and the book, THE PERFECT MASTER, has found its way to many parts of the world and has drawn many people to Baba. Will and Mary Backett, models of devoted discipleship, came as often as they could from their place in the country.

"Arrangements were first made here and discussed for a group of us to visit India the following year, 1933, in the spring. We were all wildly excited at the idea. Baba had led us to believe that the moment had arrived for us to stay permanently with him. Mabel and Margaret sold their school; and Minta and I, in spite of great family opposition, got ourselves ready, and with the rest of the party which consisted of Norina, Elizabeth, Kitty, Audrey, Christina, Quentin Tod (the only male), and Vivienne Giesen, we left from Genoa on March 28th, 1933 for Bombay. The account of our visit awaits another time."

The following is an incident which took place while we were staying with

*Vollmoeller’s