-
17. Passages
- University of Nebraska Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
(/( '- Passages Wb_Y[Whh_l[Z_db_l[hfeebon ') December '/'+. Her passage on the D[mOeha went relatively well despite the weather, which caused the roughest crossing the steward had seen in fifteen years. Though her errand was a grim one, she made friends onboard. Her roommate was a Miss Moseley, who drank strychnine instead of bromide the day before the voyage. She ended up in bed with Alice’s hot-water bottle while Alice took bromide and walked on the deck.1 Before the voyage’s end Alice became well acquainted with a number of the passengers. None of them traveled abroad for pleasure; all had serious business of one sort or another. They included Butler, an Englishman on his way back from China to join the British army; Dr. Braithwaite, who worked in Paris for the American ambulance corps; another American physician, Anderson, a specialist in antitoxins; and Miss Lowles, the manager of Lady Duff-Gordon’s dress-making establishment. Alice was particularly interested in Miss Lowles, whose firm did complete makeovers for women, including hats, dresses, shoes, and even hairstyles. Alice proclaimed Lady Duff-Gordon a genius and vowed to visit the firm if she ever bought clothes again. Along the way she read Zola’s account of the injustices of the Dreyfus case, @¼WYYki[ in an English translation.2 Arriving a day late due to the weather, Alice reached London at '':)& fWiiW][i (/) p.m. on ') December. Fanny and Sir George Prothero, accompanied by Burgess Noakes, met her at Euston. From there she took a taxi to Garlant’s Hotel, and by '&:&& a.m. the next morning she was at Henry’s flat, where she found Theodora Bosanquet, Henry’s secretary since '/&-, and servants Minnie Kidd and Burgess, along with two nurses, one taking the day shift and one the night. Henry was so glad to see her that all her fears of being unwanted washed away. It was evident to Alice that she must stay there through the nights, as he wanted her near him nearly constantly.3 The next weeks would prove a roller-coaster ride as Henry dipped precariously in and out of consciousness, his recovery at best tenuous. He had angina, which he previously had interpreted as digestive problems. Recently, he had started taking digitalis, as William had. He had suffered a stroke, which damaged his brain and paralyzed his left side, and he had also contracted pneumonia in his right lung. Just after the first stroke he had another, lesser one. Henry had to be moved in a wheelchair through his flat. The doctor believed he would make a partial recovery, though he thought the writer would never again be able to do significant work. It would take all Alice’s remaining stamina to nurse him, but she believed that the patience she had learned from nursing William would stand her in good stead. Although she had hesitated to come, fearing forcing herself upon him, she realized immediately that, far from being in his way, Henry desperately needed and wanted her soothing, embodied presence. One of her first tasks was to take authority for Henry’s various affairs, a task that, in addition to household management, included negotiating Theodora’s involvement. Alice judged that Theodora had done admirably, but the woman looked weary.4 Slowly but surely, Alice weaned Henry’s amanuensis from his side, confident she was doing what was best for the ailing giant. The doctor advised keeping all visitors away, as they would tire his patient, but Alice feared that Theodora would try to countermand this order, especially in the case of Edith Wharton.5 When she let a message from Wharton through, Alice reacted quickly and virtually banned the woman from Henry’s Chelsea flat. Theodora had been with Henry during the last months, loyal and attentive to his needs. She was a bright, independent, capable person, not eager to relinquish her authority to a sixty-seven-year-old woman she scarcely knew. At age thirty-five she would not want to change her work, or so [3.89.116.152] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 13:02 GMT) (/* fWiiW][i Alice believed, and she wanted to give Theodora some sort of settlement if Henry had not remembered her in his will.6 Theodora represented everything Alice disliked about the women’s movement. Alice’s vocation had been different: her work, since she resigned her teaching post in '.-., had been unpaid but demanding. She was on firm footing now...