January 22 Wednesday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam wrote to Andrew Carnegie.

Dear St. Andrew:

I have had to decline this mission a couple of times in the past year or two, & the most I can do now is to forward the letter—which I do, & leave it to take its chances.

That whisky came very handy. I had a very wild & exasperating cold, but a pint of the whisky tamed it in 3 minutes by the watch & I did not wake up again for ten hours.

I shall be out of bed tomorrow, I think, & I’ll break straightway for Bermuda [MTP].

Sam also wrote to William Dean Howells.

I find that Sam Moffett has been lending old letters of mine to Mr. Paine without first submitting them to me for approval or the reverse, so I’ve stopped it. I don’t like to have those privacies exposed in such a way to even my biographer. If Paine should apply to you for letters, please don’t comply. I must warn Twichell, too. A man should be dead before his private foolishnesses are risked in print.

I’m sick abed, these days, but shall be out & off for Bermuda Saturday.

Yours ever— / Mark

[MTP; MTHL 2: 828]. Note: Moffett at this time was on the staff of Collier’s. See Howells’ reply Feb. 4.

Isabel Lyon’s journal:  I am loving life very much. The King got up this afternoon & dined downstairs. He talked wonderfully about astronomy, a favorite topic, & then about morals, the moral quality, intellect, & temperament. I got mixed up in my mind of course.

Mr. Moffett came today & told me when I said the King was distressed to know that Paine had copied quantities of the King’s early letters, that Paine gave him to understand that it was the King’s particular wish that he should have them. The King said last night that the next thing Paine would be getting letters from Howells, and he proceeded to write to Mr. Howells asking him not to comply. When the King spoke of the Howells letters my heart stood still, for my anxiety had projected itself into his mind and he said the thing he should have said.

[undated pieces of notepaper inserted at January 22] Note: this appears to be draft of a letter to Albert Bigelow Paine. It may or may not have been sent. Isabel identifies the day as “Friday,” which is likely Jan. 24, since Clemens left for Bermuda on Jan. 25.

The King has been talking about the volume of letters that Clara is going to compile, & asking for some old letters. I went up to the trunk tray that was in your room & found that some of the letters are gone. Have you taken them? & some of the Orion ms. too. If you haven’t got them, then I’m terribly worried. I’m worried anyway. I should not have left them there. I wanted to speak bout the matter to Mrs. Paine over the telephone this morning, but someone was listening. I know just about what was in that trunk tray, & now it seems to me that I saw you going down the hall with a bundle of letters, but I felt you wouldn’t take any without telling me. I am becoming extraordinarily psychic lately. It must be that yogi philosophy, for within the last week several unusual things have happened. I see things—when I was making that call to Redding, & by the way I tried for an hour to get you, & central kept saying that it was a party-line & some one was talking. 3 times she rang me up to say “They’re still talking.” So you can see how impossible it would be for the King to be on a party line. But as I was saying, when I called for long distance, & you, I suddenly saw Mrs. Paine standing at the telephone, so I corrected Central telling her to be sure & call for Mrs. Paine too. I was absolutely certain that you wouldn’t answer it. I have been pretty anxious over the King (& other matters too.) & have tried to have some one to cheer him, for he seems depressed & lonely. Terribly lonely. He got up at 10:30 yesterday (It is 5 o’clock Friday morning) & began billiarding, longing for a companion. I tried to get one, but of course everyone was busy & it made me so sick to hear him say that the Almighty was particularly attentive to him, denying him even billiards. I shall go to bed for a couple of days after the King goes, for I think I must be a little exhausted. I have taken sole care of the King which means an hourly attention from 8 a.m. until 12 midnight, in order to rout out a very tenacious germ, but we routed it. There is to be a Doe party, Feb 11th.

I think life is very wonderful & extravagant in its interests. The King & CC are perfect companions for me, but when the King goes I shall be like a lonely grey smoke-woman. Can I endure it for 12 days. I’m so glad Ashcroft could take him, for he needs the change badly. / Sincerely IVL. / Please tell me ‘bout the letters. I’ve just been thinking that perhaps I put those letters elsewhere. I’ll look today.

[The journal continues for Jan. 22: ]

Heavy snow over this beautiful wonderful world. The King is becoming very much interested in the house & C.C. is too. Oh very much. I’m another woman now & my new name is Madame Naud [MTP: IVL TS 11-14].

Edward John Bing wrote from Budapest, Hungary to ask Sam for his autograph [MTP].

Frances Nunnally wrote to Sam.

Dear Mr. Clemens,—

I surely do wish I could go to Bermuda for I cannot imagine anything nicer, and I should love to have a holiday like that with you. It certainly is lovely of you to ask me to spend my Easter vacation with you, and there is nothing I should like better, but I cannot promise anything now, as I don’t know what Mother has planned for me.

      I only have a very few minutes before I shall have to go to bed, but I just wanted to write you a line to wish you the very best of trips. So hoping you will enjoy your two-weeks voyage very much, I am / With love / Francesca [MTP; MTAq 101].