Letter from Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, to James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, New York, New York, [1963] November 6 : autograph manuscript signed.

Explaining that, because of the "vagaries of the post," there has been a long lag between her receipt of Ivory's letters and Merchant's, and she is concerned that they are in New York, upset about the box office failure of "The Householder," and she cannot be there with them; encouraging them to "never, never mind. Everything is bearable except the thought of you despondent and defeated. Please don't be. Everything will be all right, if not with this film, then with the next or the next or the next after that. You will make so many more films, and every one will carry Jim's hall-mark of grace and sweetness and a sort of fullness of heart, as does the Householder, and slowly people will come to recognise it and love it as we already do"; dismissing critics-- "that pack of fools"-- and hoping that by now they have "fully recovered from pain and disappointment"; inquiring as to Columbia and Columbia India's contractual obligations regarding "The Householder"; pointing out that "You made one mistake" in "clinging" to the film, and admonishing them to take a more hands-off approach with promoters, distributors, and exhibitors in the future; signing off affectionately, saying she feels "so close to you, closer than to anyone in the world except my own family."