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Elisina Tyler to Mildred Barnes Bliss, May 30, 1913

Paris.

May 30th 1913,Friday.

Dearest Mildred,

I am going to Senlis tomorrow, Saturday till Wednesday; and though I shouldn’t go for my own pleasure I recognise that in the fitness of things I must go.

Now supposing Lord MoultonProbably Baron John Fletcher Moulton (1844–1921), an English mathematician, barrister, and judge. See H. Fletcher Moulton, The Life of Lord Moulton (London: Nisbet and Co., 1922). See also letters of January 23, 1913; February 7, 1913; and February 12, 1913. were to come to Paris in the interval, and my only chance of seeing him presented itself then. I would do what I have never done for any man, and that is, take the train on a hot summer’s day and venire, videre.“Come and see.”

The enclosed fell out safely from one of your books. Mrs. Wharton has replied very nicely and we are to meet soon.This reference suggests that Elisina Tyler first met Edith Wharton in June 1913. Alan Price stated, perhaps as a typographical error, that Elisina Tyler first met Wharton in June 1912 (The End of the Age of Innocence: Edith Wharton and the First World War [New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996], 24). Wharton herself wrote that, although she had met Royall Tyler before the war, she met Elisina Tyler when she came to volunteer to work in Wharton’s wartime charities (Edith Wharton, A Backward Glance [New York and London: D. Appleton–Century, 1934], 348). See also letters of May 4, 1913, and December 1, 1913. My own suggestion was not well-inspired as she had a tidal wave of friends from America.

Isn’t it hot, dear Mildred, and don’t you wish we were all at GenayBeginning in 1913, the Tylers rented the Château de Genay in the small village of Genay near Semur-en-Auxois in Burgundy. The house was originally built in the late sixteenth century and was situated on a park that bordered the river Armançon, a tributary of the Yonne. Because of the time the Tylers spent in Burgundy, Mildred Barnes Bliss nicknamed her godson, William Royall Tyler, “Bourguignon.” fishing with bent pins?

My best love to Robert and to you.

Ever yours

Elisina.

 
Associated People: Edith Wharton
Associated Places: Paris (France)