NEW YORK, November, 1895.
[DEAR MOTHER: — ]
The china cups have arrived all right and are a beautiful
addition to my collection and to my room, in which Daphne
still holds first place.
What do you think Sir Henry sent me? The medal and his
little black pipe in a green velvet box about as big as two
bricks laid side by side with a heavy glass top with bevelled
edges and the medal and pipe lying on a white satin bed, bound
down with silver — and a large gold plate with the inscription
"To Richard Harding Davis with the warmest greetings from
Gregory
Brewster — 1895" — You have no idea how pretty it is,
Bailey, Banks and Biddle made it — It is just like him to do
anything so sweet and thoughtful and it has attracted so many
people that I have had it locked up — No Burden jewel robbers
here — My friend, the Russian O — — lady still pursues me
and
as she has no sense of humor and takes everything seriously,
she frightens me — I am afraid she will move in at any
moment — She has asked me to spend the summer with her at
Paris and Monte Carlo, and at her country place in Norfolk and
bombards me with invitations to suppers and things in the
meantime. She has just sent me a picture of herself two feet
by three, with writing all over it and at any moment, I expect
her to ring the bell and order her trunks taken up stairs — I
am too attractive — Last night I dined with Helen and Maude
Adams, who is staying with her. I want them to board me too.
Maude sang for us after dinner and then went off to see Yvette
Guilbert at a "sacred concert" to study her methods. I went
to N — — 's box to hear Melba and we chatted to the
accompaniment of Melba, Nordica and Plancon in a trio — the
Ogre, wore fur, pearls, white satin and violets. It was a
pink silk box. Then I went down to a reception at Mrs. De
Koven's and found it was a play. Everybody was seated already
so I squatted down on the floor in front of Mrs. De Koven and
a tall woman in a brocade gown cut like a Japanese woman's —
It was very dark where the audience was, so I could not see
her face but when the pantomime was over I looked up and saw
it was Yvette Guilbert. So I grabbed Mrs. De Koven and told
her to present me and Guilbert said in English — "It is not
comfortable on the floor is it?" and I said, "I have been at
your feet for three years now, so I am quite
used to it" — for which I was much applauded — Afterwards I
told some one to tell her in French that I had written a book
about Paris and about her and that I was going to mark it and
send it and before the woman could translate, Guilbert said,
"No, send me the Van Bippere book" — So we asked her what she
meant and she said, " M. Bourget told me to meet you and to
read your Van Bippere Book, you are Mr. Davis, are you not?" —
So after that I owned the place and refused to meet Mrs.
Vanderbilt.
Yvette has offered to teach me French, so I guess I won't
go to Somerset's wedding, unless O — — scares me out of the
country. I got my $2,000 check and have paid all my debts.
They were not a third as much as I thought they were, so
that's all right.
Do come over mother, as soon as you can and we will meet
at Jersey City, and have a nice lunch and a good talk. Give
my bestest love to Dad and Nora. How would she like Yvette
for a sister-in-law? John Hare has sent me seats for to
night — He is very nice — I have begun the story of the."
Servants' Ball" and got well into it.
Lots and lots of love.
DICK.
The following letter was written to me at Florence. The
novel referred to was "Soldiers of Fortune," which eventually
proved the most successful book, commercially, my brother ever
wrote. Mrs. Hicks, to whom Richard frequently refers, is the
well-known English actress Ellaline Terriss, the wife of
Seymour Hicks. Somerset is Somers Somerset, the son of Lady
Henry Somerset, and the Frohman referred to is Daniel Frohman,
who was the manager of the old Lyceum Theatre.
Early in November, William R. Hearst asked my brother to
write a description of the Yale-Princeton football game for
The Journal. Richard did not want to write the "story"
and
by way of a polite refusal said he could not undertake it for
less than $500.00. Greatly to his surprise Hearst promptly
accepted the offer. At the time, I imagine this was by far
the largest sum ever paid a writer for reporting a single
event.
