Dear friend! I am terribly afraid that you will refuse to go to Brussels, which would put us in a completely impossible position. And so I have thought up yet another "compromise" so that you simply cannot refuse.

Nadya thinks that your older children have already arrived and you will easily be able to leave them for 3 days (or take Andryusha with you).

In case the older ones have not arrived and it is absolutely impossible to leave the children for 3 days, — I propose: that you go for just one day (the 16th, even for half a day, to deliver the report), either leaving the children for a day, or even having K-vich come for that day, if circumstances require it. (We will cover the expenses.)

The thing is, you see, that it is extremely important that at least the main report be delivered with real competence. For this, an excellent command of French is absolutely necessary — excellent, because otherwise the impression will be nil, — French, because otherwise 9/10 will be lost in translation precisely for the Executive Committee, which is the body we need to influence (the Germans are hopeless and they may not even be there).