April 25 Monday – At the Villa Reale di Quarto near Florence Sam wrote to John Y. MacAlister at the Sanitarium Grand Hotel in Leysin, Switzerland.
We had an awful fright 5 nights ago, & at once I put on the rigid rules of a year ago & clinched them tight, in spite of Mrs. Clemens’s pleadings & protestations. We kissed her Aufwiedersehen, & since then Jean
I have not seen her. Clara spends one hour a day with her; the doctor sees her 5 minutes daily; the trained nurse spends the day outside the door & answers the bell; our old Irish Katy who has been with us 22 years sleeps in the room at night. No letters nor papers enter there any more & the madam is not strong enough to hold up a book or magazine. We have saved her, by a close shave; starvation, visiting & excitement were killing her; she neither ate nor slept; she does not weigh as much as a cat; she would not have lasted a fortnight. She sent me word this morning that she is now glad we made the change. She eats a little, sleeps a little & is really resting. We can venture no prophecies as yet, but our hopes are reviving.
I was exceedingly glad your brother was able to come, & I am also glad he was so well impressed by Dr. Kirch.
The cakes of soap came, & I am ever so much obliged.
I am trying the library here, & with happy success. But if it runs short of my kind of books I shall levy on you [MTP]. Note: John’s brother, Dr. Donald MacAlister.
Chatto & Windus wrote to Sam. “Mr. Bliss has asked us for payment of the 250 copies of Vol. 23 of the Edition de Luxe of your Works. Will you kindly let us know if his account is correct, and if you wish us to send him a Draft for $250 on your behalf for these copies we have recently received from Mr. Bliss.” They were getting a lot of inquiries about the forthcoming Christian Science book [MTP].
F.B. Wilson for Jewell Pin Co. wrote to Sam, enclosing check for $45, a 3% dividend on 5 shares of stock [MTP].
John Y. MacAlister wrote a postcard from Aigle, Switzerland: “Am sending you some soap made for harder water–& shall be glad to know which the ladies find best. Keep them quite distinct fro mere comparison. Hope you have better news. I’m all right” [MTP].