Everybody Was So Young (58 page)

[>] She shared . . . amusement:
SWM
to
GCM
, 26 Oct. 1909,
HMD
.

“I have no idea”: LW, p. 11.

4. “Thinking how nice you are”

[>] “The saddest people”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 16 Mar. 1918,
HMD
.

“Spent day in bed . . . depressed”:
SWM
diary 1910–1915: 8 Aug. 1915,
HMD
. taking classes . . . afternoons and evenings: Ibid.: 17, 18, 25, and 30 Jan. 1910. “Went to H. Mann’s” . . . louche manner: Ibid.: 3 Feb.1911.

[>] “never even to glance”: Mrs. Paul Mellon interview.

little Esther Murphy . . . luncheon table:
SWM
to
GCM
, [1915],
HMD
.

de rigueur . . . Whitneys’: Ibid.: 8 and 10 Feb. 1910,
HMD
.

tableaux at the Clarence Mackays’: Vogue, 15 Nov. 1914.

[>] Strauss’s Elektra . . . second time:
SWM
diary 1910–1915: Feb.-Mar. 1910,
HMD
.

“awful pains”: Ibid.: 13 Jun. 1910.

“much depressed . . . fearfully depressed”: Ibid.: 13, 17, 19 Feb. 1910. family trip . . . empty and sad: Ibid.: 2 and 3 May 1910.

Sara Sherman . . . groom in sight for her: Ibid.: 18 Jul. 1910.

[>] “people just fell in love”: Mrs. Paul Mellon interview. she didn’t accompany . . . recorded in her diary:
SWM
diary 1910–1915: April 1910,
HMD
.

[>] “She had a sense”:
ESB
interview; see also S&G, p. 168.

Hailey’s comet . . . directly afterward:
SWM
diary 1910–1915: 26 May 1910, 11 Sept. 1912, 17 Nov. 1910,
HMD
.

“Will you ever forget”: Yale College, History of the Class of 1912, p. 30.

The next day . . . “rheumatism in knees”: Ibid., p. 31, S&G, p. 128; and
SWM
diary 1910–1915:17 Jan. 1911,
HMD
.

[>] “in bed” . . . for Adeline:
SWM
diary 1910–1915:22 and 28 Jan. 1911,
HMD
. “unspeakable”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 18 Jun. 1911,
HMD
.

“in society as a lady”: Stella Campbell, quoted in Peters, Mrs. Pat, p. 226.

[>] “Sara, darling”: LW, p. 11.

“We sang afterwards”:
SWM
diary 1910–1915:12 Mar. 1911,
HMD
. duchess was a notable . . . drop earrings: Cooper, The Rainbow Comes and Goes, p. 44.

“a rather self-conscious”: Havighurst, Twentieth Century Britain, p. 34.

“I love Sara . . . goes her own way”: LW, p. 11.

“I think I shall”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 18 Jun. 1911,
HMD
.

“dressed for tea” . . . Sara craved: Cooper, The Rainbow Comes and Goes, pp. 63–64;
SWM
diary 1910–1915:26 Mar. 1911,
HMD
.

[>] April 5 . . . Belvoir in March:
SWM
diary 1910–1915: 5 Apr. and 31 Mar. 1911,
HMD
.

secured a letter . . . Steichen had also studied: Ibid.: 14 and 18 Apr. 1911.

live nude model: Morton, Americans in Paris, pp. 68–69.

“one of the most fearful”:
SWM
1919–1915 diary: 14 May 1911,
HMD
.

“nice day but bored”: Ibid.: 15 Jun. 1911.

Albert Hall was transformed . . . blue silk: “The Shakespeare Ball: Brilliant Scenes at Albert Hall,” Morning Leader (London), 21 Jun. 1911.

[>] nearly four thousand . . . midnight: “Shakespeare Ball: Visit by the King and Queen,” unattributed, 19 Jun. 1911, clipping,
FBW
papers,
HMD
.

customary twenty-one-gun . . . morning’s proceedings:
SWM
diary 1910–1915: 22 Jun. 1911,
HMD
.

“We have been having . . . enjoyed myself more”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 18 Jun. 1911,
HMD
.

“Would you mind . . . ‘out of it’”: Ibid.

[>] Elizabethan Club . . . Stuart writers: Yale Daily News, 31 Oct., 21 and 27 Nov., 8 Dec. 1911, and 10 Jan. 1912.

“cussing and drinking lemonade”: Yale College, History of the Class of 1912, p.27.

February . . . Most Brilliant: Ibid.

“I am not disappointed . . . value it so lightly”:
PFM
to
GCM
, 18 Aug. 1911,
HMD
.

“I cannot accept . . . at the dock”: Ibid., Mar. 1911.

[>] “I’m proud of you”: Ibid., Feb. 1911.

“Only in my senior year”:
GCM
to CT, undated,
HMD
.

“distortion of myself’:
GCM
to AMacL, 22 Jan. 1931,
LOC
.

Gerald, for his part, spent . . . planned European trip:
SWM
diary 1910–1915: 3 Jan., Feb., 18 Apr., 1912,
HMD
.

“Gerard’s birthday”: Ibid.: 15 May 1912.

East Hampton summer . . . broke out: Ibid.: 28 May, 1 Jul., 14 Aug., 9 Oct. 1912.

[>] “terrific crowds” . . . love a Scene: Ibid.: 19, 20, and 22 Jun. 1912.

returned to East Hampton . . . September 17: Ibid.: 30 Jun., 2 and 6 Jul., 17 Sept. 1912.

fun to camp . . . from the beach:
SWM
to
GCM
, 8 Feb. 1918,
HMD
. Sara couldn’t remember the year (she says it was “years ago, long before we were engaged); the chronology of the Wiborgs’ comings and goings, and the development of Sara’s and Gerald’s relationship, makes summer 1912 the likeliest time.

5. “I must ask you endless questions”

[>] During the previous winter . . . 25th Street:
SWM
diary 1910–1915: Dec. 1911,
HMD
. Sara’s December entries refer only to “Mr. Chase’s” studio, but Ronald Pisano, author of William Merritt Chase’s catalogue raisonne, confirms that Chase’s studio at this time was located at 333 Fourth Avenue, evening of tableaux vivants . . . Mrs. J. Pierpont Morgan: “Beautiful Women Pose in Tableaux Vivants,” New York Herald, 29 Jan. 1913; program from the tableaux,
HMD
.

[>] quarreling with her family . . . one occasion:
SWM
diary 1910–1915: 30 Sept., 9 Oct., 11 Oct., and 17 Nov. 1912,
HMD
.

[>] Esther worried so . . . take care of her: Esther Murphy to
GCM
, 18 Nov. 1916,
HMD
.

“I shall see your saddened . . . pretty Sal”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 9 Mar. and 16 Mar. 1913,
HMD
.

Having dispatched Frank . . . Poiret:
SWM
diary 1910–1915: 20 Mar., 26 Mar., and 9–23 Apr. 1913,
HMD
.

“Dreadful day . . . not going back”: Ibid., 23 Mar. 1913.

“preliminary scrimmage” . . . red, green, and yellow brocade: Cincinnati Enquirer, 24 Jul. 1913.

[>] much more impressed . . . Le Sacre du printemps:
SWM
diary 1910–1915: 22 and 23 Jul. 1913,
HMD
.

Smartly dressed . . . “shut up”: Buckle, Diaghilev, pp. 299–301.

“continuous thudding”: Beaumont, Bookseller at the Ballet, pp. 137–38. “musically and choreographically”: Garafola, Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, p. 64.

“It must be wonderful . . . in detail”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 29 Jul. 1913,
HMD
.

[>] “I only wish”:
ARM
to
GCM
, 13 Aug. 1913,
HMD
.

Esther, who was now . . . “is it so?”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 28 Jul. 1913,
HMD
.

[>] Frank was in a foul . . . “no end of bustle”:
FBW
diary 1913: 5 Sept. 1913,
HMD
.

To make matters worse . . . penny more: “Wiborg Case Settled,” New York Press, 24 Oct. 1913.

Curiously . . . Stanchfield:
FBW
diary 1913:12 Sept. 1913,
HMD
.

“
MRS
. F.
WIBORG
. . .
FINED
AS SMUGGLER”: United Press dispatch, 27 Sept. 1913; New York Journal, 23 Oct. 1913; New York Evening Mail, 23 Oct. 1913; New York Press, 24 Oct. 1913.

[>] “Most horrible day . . . [G]erard and us”:
SWM
diary 1910–1915: 29 Sept. 1913,
HMD
.

On October 23 . . . letting her go: Details from newspaper stories previously cited.

It was proposed . . . “years of business”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 12 Jan. 1914,
HMD
. “I sleep in trains”: Ibid., 27 Dec. 1913,
HMD
.

Christmas at Belvoir . . . “dead with it”: Ibid.

[>] “Arriving at Port Said . . . subtle mixed in”: Ibid., 12 Jan. 1914,
HMD
. display of pukka-sahib festivity . . . retired early:
FBW
diary 1914:12 Feb. 1914,
HMD
. so many waltzes . . . “Miss Ragtime?”: Dance card labeled “Viceregal Lodge, Delhi. Feb. 12, 1914,”
HMD
.

following evening . . . “coon song snatches”: Program labeled “Imperial Delhi Gymkhana Club, Indian Cavalry Polo Week, 1914,” HMD; “Theatricals at the Gymkhana Club,” clipping, Saturday, 14 Feb. 1914, source unknown,
HMD
.

“they looked beautifully . . . poor selection”:
FBW
diary 1914: 13 Feb. 1914,
HMD
.

“hot unkempt and tawdry”: Ibid., 7 Jan. 1914.

But Gerald . . . that autumn:
GCM
to
SWM
, [7 Sept. 1913],
HMD
.

“the most marvelous”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 18 Jan. 1914,
HMD
.

[>] ‘“transported me beyond delight’”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 9 Apr. 1914,
HMD
. “Lately I have been made . . . of the pavement”: Ibid.

“Gerald Murphy showed up”:
FBW
diary 1914: 27 Mar. 1914,
HMD
.

“[H]e was playing . . . no one at all”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 9 Apr. 1914,
HMD
.

[>] two of them went . . . “G”: Ibid., 10 Jun. 1914,
HMD
.

6. “A relationship that so lets loose the imagination!”

[>] “Damp day . . . Halifax”:
SWM
diary 1910–1915: 5 Aug. 1914,
HMD
.

For his part, Gerald . . . New York:
GCM
to
SWM
, 9 Sept. and 9 Nov. 1914,
HMD
.

[>] “cold-cuts and mustard” . . . Keats: Ibid., undated, 1915.

“How differently I feel . . . enjoys them”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 2 Jun. 1915,
HMD
. They decided to shun . . . “holes stick up?”:
GCM
to
SWM
, undated, 1914,
HMD
.

“Aristocrats!! bah!!”: Ibid., undated card.

To Sara, and only . . . position afforded him: Ibid., 12 Jan. and 29 Jun. 1915. “My heart is full . . . beauty you feel”: Ibid., 19 May 1915.

“we’ve both lived”: Ibid., 26 Feb. 1915.

“What a gloomy thing . . . don’t you think?”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 19 May 1915,
HMD
.

[>] ‘You asked the other . . . I thought of you!”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 18 Feb. 1915,
HMD
.

[>] “It is generally remarked”: Ibid., 14 Oct. 1914.

“Can you see me”: Ibid., 12 Jan. 1915.

“Who is there . . . Am I clear?”: Ibid., 15 Jan. 1915.

“Are we peculiar”: Ibid., 26 Jan. 1915.

“Sal mine”: Ibid., 4 Feb. 1915 (postmarked 7:30 P.M.).

“My Sal”: Ibid., 9 Feb. 1915.

[>] “I never dreamed . . . We are each other”:
SWM
to
GCM
, [1915],
HMD
. This letter is dated in S&G as Aug. 1914, but it’s out of keeping with the tone of Sara’s correspondence at that point. The year 1915 is much more likely.

“I am beginning to believe”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 11 Feb. 1915,
HMD
. Sara’s letter itself is lost, but quoted in Gerald’s to her.

“I put [the seal] . . . remove it”: Ibid.

stone wall . . . picnicked: Honoria Donnelly believes this bottle was buried and unearthed in Sara’s East Hampton garden. But in a letter of Feb. 12 Gerald refers to “our little corner by the wall” at St. Andrew’s, where he was when he wrote the buried missive. And in another letter from St. Andrew’s dated May 24, 1915, he speaks of being able to see, from his window, “our little corner by the wall where we lunched on that day when we sort of realized we were engaged.”

he buried . . . “tears of this night”:
GCM
, 11 Feb. 1915,
HMD
. The little bottle, with the rolled-up note still inside it, secured with the (now faded) green ribbon, is in the file.

‘“gas much”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 13 Feb. 1915,
HMD
.

“Were you here . . . meager words!”: Ibid.

[>] “‘loaded and fragrant’”: Ibid., 10 Feb. 1915.

“Can’t you see . . . finish it”: Ibid., 10 Mar. 1915.

“I am disappointed . . . their ignorance?”: Ibid., 24 Feb. 1915.

But Sara was apprehensive . . . at least once: Ibid.

“last night left me . . . all day”: Ibid., 2 Mar. 1915.

“I tell you frankly . . . much longer”: Ibid., 3 Mar. 1915.

“ply my suit . . . is at stake”: Ibid., 5 Mar. 1915.

[>] “I’m marrying Gerald”:
HMD
interview.

Adeline wept . . . inestimable loss: Although there is no actual record of Adeline Wiborg’s reaction to this news, a letter from Sara to Gerald, 7 Jun. 1915, describes such a response to Olga’s engagement, and says she “behaved much the same as before.”

“life and the living”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 25 Aug. 1915,
HMD
. refused to receive: Ibid., 8 Mar. 1915.

“an autopsy”: Ibid., 10 Mar. 1915.