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13 ______________________________________ The will was probated a month later, with Adela as sole executrix. William left her the house at Camden Crescent, along with its furnishings (“plate linen china glass books pictures prints articles of vertu [art objects and curios] provisions ”). She also received a specific legacy of fifteen thousand pounds. Harry received ten thousand pounds pursuant to his marriage settlement , as well as a direct bequest of five thousand pounds. The residue was divided equally between Harry and Adela, and the net value of the estate was given at £35,491. Adela thus inherited a well-established (and probably wellstuffed ) house and financial independence. Adela did not linger. By the end of the year she had left Bath and would rarely return for any length of time. Her father’s daughter, she could at long last indulge her own “inherent propensity to wander” (Breton 1834). One of her first stops was Philadelphia, to visit the American family her mother never saw. She missed meeting David Lewis, who had written to her mother—he died just a month after Adela’s father. But there were other cousins to meet and get acquainted with and plenty of family history to compare notes on. One of David’s sons, Clifford Lewis, had married a woman named Ella Cozens, who was only a few years older than Adela. This visit was the start of a lifelong friendship between the cousins. Ella and Adela became particularly close and corresponded for many years. Adela’s other destination on that memorable first trip of independence was western Canada. The opening of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s transcontinental line in 1885 had spurred tourism in the newly accessible Canadian Rockies, leading to Canada’s first national park being developed at Banff. Advertisements touted the alpine scenery and the luxury and comforts Chapter Three The Freedom of Travel The Rocky Mountains were so good, everything perfect except the American women who would ride astride, a sight to make gods + men weep. In all my wild rides it never occurred to me as being possible or necessary. —Adela Breton to Frances Mead, July ,  14 Chapter Three ______________________________________ to be found, particularly in some of the new hotels. The railroad itself offered luxurious accommodations and cuisine that included local delicacies such as trout, prairie hen, antelope, steaks, and Fraser River salmon. Part of the region’s lure for women travelers was outdoor life and the freedom it offered. Camping and hiking were particularly popular. The relatively unfettered existence translated into dress, which was based on physical mobility rather than social customs. Some women even wore trousers and many wore divided riding skirts, which enabled them to ride astride and gave them the mobility to mount and dismount unaided. One of the most noted women travelers to the area was Lady Agnes Macdonald, who accompanied her husband on the second transcontinental train trip. Lady Agnes, who was an adventuring soul, decided to ride on the cowcatcher (a line-clearing apparatus on the front of the train) during the mountainous part of the trip. Her husband, the Canadian prime minister , tried unsuccessfully to talk her out of it, as did the railway officials. Agnes found it all to be great sport, and the railroad eventually made good use of the publicity.1 Adela and Ella met Baroness Macdonald in 1892 when they were staying at Lakeland, New York. Unfortunately, years later when Adela recalled the meeting in a letter to Ella she did not say anything about the woman or the meeting , and nothing was mentioned about the wellpublicized train ride on the cowcatcher. In addition to the adventurous Lady Agnes, the mountains attracted women explorers, botanists, geographers, climbers, scientists—and artists. Adela was obviously much taken with the mountain terrain and the freedom it offered independent women. She enjoyed painting and drawing the mountain scenery. Art and recording what she saw were an important aspect of her travel from the beginning. Her paintings tended to emphasize the geological aspects of the scenery, and many are carefully—and instructively—labeled with geological details. To what extent Adela thought of herself as an artist at that time is not clear. She was serious about painting and she apparently exhibited her Canadian paintings, probably in Bath, but there is no indication that she ever attempted to establish herself as an artist or sell her art. Adela returned to Canada and Philadelphia the next two winters, establishing her practice of being away...

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