Mrs. Oswald. I think it was a couple of weeks before that, at the beginning of February.
Mr. Rankin. Did your husband know about the letter you sent to the Embassy on February 17?
Mrs. Oswald. Of course. He handed me the paper, a pencil, and said, "Write."
Mr. Rankin. Did he tell you what to put in the letter, or was that your own drafting?
Mrs. Oswald. No, I knew myself what I had to write, and these were my words. What could I do if my husband didn't want to live with me? At least that is what I thought.
Mr. Rankin. Did you ever have arguments with your husband about smoking and drinking wine, other things like that?
Mrs. Oswald. About drinking wine, no. But he didn't like the fact that I smoked, because he neither smoked nor drank. It would have been better if he had smoked and drank.
Mr. Rankin. Can you tell us approximately when you first met Ruth Paine?
Mrs. Oswald. Soon after New Years—I think it was in January.
Mr. Rankin. Would that be 1963?