February 20 Sunday — In Hamilton, Bermuda Sam wrote to Katy Leary.
Dear Katie: / I enclose page 1 of a letter just received from Mrs. Ossip. It troubles me because she seems to have gotten the impression (the superstition), that your authority as housekeeper is not supreme. But it is supreme, There is no housekeeper but you. No one but you has anything to do with the housekeeping. No one but you can hire or discharge a house-servant, or give to a house-servant an order not proper for a guest to give.
Mrs. Paine is my guest—that is all. She understands this, & will not endeavor to help you keep house.
Mr. Paine is my business-agent. You can consult with him about any & all kinds of economies, & he will gladly be helpful to you in every way he can. But he will not try to assist in the housekeeping. He is aware that the housekeeping is strictly in your hands & that I want it so.
I hope you are all well & happy. I have had a cold for a few days, but am well again, this morning.
I suppose I may not be home until in April.
I have had a cold in the head 4 days, but it is gone now, & I have escaped without a touch of bronchitis.
At any time that I am needed at home, I will come. But if you & Mr. Paine will get along together perfectly, I think; for you are both rational people, & wise & intelligent. / Affectionately, / ... [MTP].
Sam also wrote to Albert Bigelow Paine , letter not extant but referred to in Paine’s Feb. 25 reply [MTP].
In the evening Sam dined at the Princess Hotel with Helen Schuyler Allen and “some friends.” There, after one miscue, he met Mr. & Mrs. Lee, friends of Mary B. Rogers [Feb. 21 to Julie].