January 29 Friday – At the Villa Reale di Quarto near Florence Sam wrote to John B. Stanchfield.
Your letter [not extant] came yesterday, & I thought the Butters proposal over. As I understood it, it was this:
He will restore to me the 250 shares which he stole from me—
Provided I buy some more (at a price above its value.)
I thought it over, & decided against it; & have now (3. p.m) sent to town a cable [not extant] to that effect which should reach Elmira this morning by 10 or 11.
There is only one proper thing for Butters to do, & that is, to make restitution unconditionally; either of all he stole from me or enough of it to leave him a fair commission on his theft. But I am not going to add any cash to the $32,500 I have already sunk there.
As soon as I get back we will pull Butters into Court, & I guess we can jail him. We will try, anyhow. And I will add that libel, & see if he has grit enough to prosecute me—which he will do if he is as much of an ass as he is a thief. I think he is.
It may be that you will think me unwise in declining the Butters proposition, but I am sure I have good reasons for it—cash ones. He occupies space enough in my Autobiography to pay back all he & his pimp have robbed me of, & more By & by you will know them, then I think you will agree with me that while it would have been an advantage to me to settle with him some months ago, that is not the case now.
Mrs. Clemens has not been out of bed for 7 weeks; she has had a bad set-back. But she improves a little, latterly. With love to Clara, & regards to Mr. Wheeler when you see him, … [MTP]. Note: the lined out sentence reflects Sam had been dictating feelings about Henry A. Butters; a dication that does not survive [AMT 1: 23].