began to live apart in 1913, after the couple lost a custody battle for their only child to Custance's father. In 1913 Douglas was charged with libeling his father-in-law who had always disapproved of him and seems to have been a major reason for strain on their marriage. The couple again lived together for a time in the 1920s after Olive also converted to Catholicism in 1917. Their only child, Raymond, showed signs of instability in his youth. For a time he served in the army, but was confined to mental institutions for long periods. This placed further strain on the marriage, so that by the end of the 1920s they had separated again and Custance had given up her Catholicism. However, they did not divorce, and in 1932, she followed Douglas to Hove, taking a house near his. In the final 12 years of her life, they saw each other almost every day. In 1931 Douglas had already written that their marriage held firm despite "the welter of mud and stones" hurled at it by their enemies. Custance continued to write and publish poems during the twentieth century. Many of these were published in journals edited by Douglas, including The Academy and the right-wing, anti-Semitic periodical Plain English. She also contributed poems to William Sorley Brown's newspaper the Border Standard. During World War II Custance wrote several patriotic poems but these have not been collected. She died on 12 February 1944 holding Lord Alfred Douglas' hand; Douglas himself died the next year, on 20 March 1945. Their son Raymond survived to the age of 61; after several lengthy episodes of mental instability throughout his lifetime, he died unmarried on 10 October 1965. Works Opals (1897) Rainbows (1902) The Blue Bird (1905) The Inn of Dreams (1911) The Inn of Dreams: Poems by Olive Custance (2015); edited by Edwin King The Selected Poems of Olive Custance (1995); edited by Brocard Sewell Posthumous Olive Custance, I Desire the Moon: The Diary of Lady Alfred Douglas (Olive Custance) 1905-1910, ed. C. Wintermans (Avalon Press, 2005) References Sources Olive Custance: Her Life and Work (1975) Brocard Sewell The Autobiography (1931) Lord Alfred Douglas Bosie (1963) Rupert Croft-Cooke The Lesbian Muse and Poetic Identity (2013) Sarah Parker Introduction to The Inn of Dreams: Poems by Olive Custance (2015); edited by Edwin King. Pulham, Patricia, 'Tinted and tainted love: the sculptural body in Olive Custance's