Editing Profumo affair (section)

===Affair===
A few days after the Cliveden weekend, Profumo contacted Keeler. The affair that ensued was brief; some commentators have suggested that it ended after a few weeks, while others believe that it continued, with decreasing fervour, until December 1961.<ref name="Knightley87" /><ref name="DH250">Davenport-Hines, pp. 250–53</ref><ref name="P165">Profumo, pp. 165–66</ref> The relationship was characterised by Keeler as an unromantic relationship without expectations, a "screw of convenience",<ref>Summers and Dorril, p. 139</ref> although she also states that Profumo hoped for a longer-term commitment and that he offered to set her up in a flat.<ref>Keeler, pp. 127–28</ref> More than twenty years later, Profumo described Keeler in conversation with his son as someone who "seem[ed] to like sexual intercourse", but who was "completely uneducated", with no conversation beyond make-up, hair and [[gramophone]] records.<ref>Profumo, p. 163</ref>
{{Quote box|width=250px|bgcolor=#E0E6F8|align=right|quote= "Darling,&nbsp;... Alas something's blown up tomorrow night and I can't therefore make it&nbsp;... I leave the next day for various trips and then a holiday so won't be able to see you again until some time in September. Blast it. Please take great care of yourself and don't run away.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Love J"|salign = left |source= From Profumo's "Darling" letter to Keeler, 9 August 1961<ref name= Knightley87/> }}
The couple usually met at Wimpole Mews, when Ward was absent, although once, when Hobson was away, Profumo took Keeler to his home at [[Chester Terrace]] in [[Regent's Park]].<ref name="Knightley87" /> On one occasion he borrowed a [[Bentley]] from his ministerial colleague [[John Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham|John Hare]] and took Keeler for a drive around London, and another time the couple had a drink with [[George Ward, 1st Viscount Ward of Witley|Viscount Ward]], the former [[Secretary of State for Air]]. During their time together, Profumo gave Keeler a few small presents, and once, a sum of £20 as a gift for her mother.<ref name="DH250" /> Keeler maintains that although Ward asked her to obtain information from Profumo about the deployment of nuclear weapons, she did not do so.<ref>Keeler, p. 126</ref> Profumo was equally adamant that no such discussions took place.<ref>Profumo, p. 164</ref>

On 9 August, Profumo was interviewed informally by [[Norman Brook, 1st Baron Normanbrook|Sir Norman Brook]], the [[Cabinet Secretary (United Kingdom)|Cabinet Secretary]],<ref name="P165" /> who had been advised by Hollis of Profumo's involvement with Ward's group. Brook warned the minister of the dangers of being entangled with Ward since MI5 were at this stage unsure of his dependability. It is possible that Brook asked Profumo to help MI5 in its efforts to secure Ivanov's defection—a request which Profumo declined.<ref name="DH250" /> Although Brook did not indicate knowledge of the relationship with Keeler, Profumo may have suspected that he knew. That same day, Profumo wrote Keeler a letter, beginning "Darling&nbsp;...", cancelling an assignation they had made for the following day. Some commentators have assumed that this letter ended the association;<ref name="Knightley87" /> Keeler insisted that the affair ended later, after her persistent refusals to stop living with Ward.<ref>Knightley and Kennedy, p. 89; Keeler, pp. 126–27</ref>{{#tag:ref|Although the general consensus among commentators is that the affair was certainly over by December 1961, at least one person claims to have seen Profumo and Keeler in bed together as late as the summer of 1962.<ref>Summers and Dorril, pp. 153 and 171</ref> |group= n}}