This startling missive may clear up just when Greta Garbo decided "I vant to be alone." Dated October 25, 1943, Garbo writes to her lover, actor John Gilbert, "This is going to make you sad, but it must be done....I cannot see you for a while. And you must not call me." She goes on, "I want to be well more than anything." Just weeks later, Garbo announced her retirement and went into exile. The letter, on the stationery of New York's Ritz Tower, is in pencil and has not faded a bit. EX with a few light fold marks. Garbo did not sign but its value to Garbo freaks is limitless. Envelope included.