Wilde West
Page 36
You remember, perhaps, the Frenchwoman, Mathilde de la Môle? Well, it transpired that she, like O’Conner, was not what she claimed to be. She was no countess, and her name was not de la Môle. She was, rather, Mathilde Horlec, the daughter of a bourgeois of Boulogne. But the most delicious part of her story is this: three years after our tour, she wrote a book describing her adventures, and the book, quite a success in France, was read with fascination by a certain Count d’Angiers, who promptly sought her out, wooed her, and finally married her. And so the pretend countess becomes a genuine countess, and Life, once again, imitates Art, or at any rate strives to.
I’ve read the woman’s book and it’s not bad of its kind. She doesn’t mention the murders. But it may amuse you to learn that she claims to have conducted long and involved conversations, in French, about literature with my valet, Henry Villiers (the black man who assisted me; I believe you met him). She goes so far as to hint, very delicately of course, that at the end of the tour he and she conducted a brief liaison.
I couldn’t tell you whether she actually had an affair with poor Henry. But as to his speaking French—he traveled with me for many months and, despite his French-sounding name, he never spoke a word of it to me.
I suppose what all this—the careers of Mathilde, von Hesse, O’Conner (and perhaps even Henry?)—proves is that, finally, no matter how much we might like to believe otherwise, no one of us ever truly knows anyone else. Or even ourselves. And that perhaps these are things for which we ought all be grateful.
I hope this letter finds you and your family well. I should very much enjoy hearing from you, should you ever find the time to write.
By the way, if you ever happen to see Dr. John Holliday, please tell him for me that I’ve reconsidered his offer. Until I hear from you, then, I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Oscar Wilde
Paros, September 22, 1990
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In the States, thanks to Scott and Donna Anderson, Reagan Arthur at St. Martin’s, Dick Beddow (again), Dana and Nancy Bramwell, Richard Brenner, Yiorgo Chouliaras, Marilyn Copp, Valerie DeMille, Dick and Dottie Gallegly, Cathleen Jordan and Holly Wallinger and Judy Downer of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Doris O’Donnell, Diane Moggey at Worldwide Mystery, Sara Nakian, Karla Satterlee, Shirley Sweeten, Duke and Martha Schirmer and Kate Whelan. Thanks, also, to the many people in Leadville who offered kindness and information, particularly to Georgina Brown and to Patty McMahan at the Silver Dollar Saloon.
Here on Paros, thanks to Jim Clark, David and Vanessa Grant, Vicki Kondili, Jack Nealc, John and Jane Pack, Bill and Helen Riding, Angelos and Yianni Spyridoyiannakis, and Sabine Scholtyssek-Aoki. (Guten tag, Sabine.)
In Athens, thanks to Mano Ignatiadis and Lelli Rallis.
In Frankfurt, thanks to Klaus Schomburg.
In Edinburgh, thanks to Dr. Olga Taxidou.
In Amsterdam, very special thanks to Elzo Wind and Carola Van Doremalen.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1991 by Walter Satterthwait
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