April 23 Sunday – Sam’s notebook in Chicago:

Note — Apl 23rd 1893 / Great Northern Hotel, Chicago / Paige called three days ago [Apr. 20]. He called again tonight. I asked him if his conscience troubled him any about the way he had treated me. He said he could almost forgive me for that word. He said it broke his heart when I left him and the machine to fight along the best way they could &c &c. I tried to bring him to book and finally he said that he was considering a contract offered by his land company, and had carried it back today modified in this way: Instead of accepting one half of their capital stock of Fifteen millions, he had ammended the contract aski[ng] for one half a million doll[ars] cash and no stock. They will accept or reject this proposition tomorrow.

They may accept and offer him less. Whatever they offer he will take in cash and send me one half of it. When his European patent affairs are settled, he is going to put me in for a handsome royalty on every European machine. We parted immensely good friends. He made very large promises of an indefinite kind, but they were so cloudy and formless that I was not able to make out what or how much they meant. …

Chas. E. Davis was here two or three nights ago. He says he still holds the paper which Paige dictated to him one day to quiet me, in which he says that no matter what happened he and I would always share and share alike in the results of the machine, or words to that effect. Paige shed even more tears than usual. What a talker he is. He could persuade a fish to come out and take a walk with him. When he is present I always believe him — I cannot help it. He is a most daring and majestic liar [NB 33 TS 8-10].

At the Great Northern Hotel in Chicago, Sam wrote to Susan Crane, explaining his illness and delay. He expected to leave the next day for New York.

It is my plan to spend two or three days in Hartford, a day or two in New York, & reach Elmira next Monday or Tuesday & have two or three days with you before I sail, May 6th [MTP].

Meanwhile, back in Florence, Livy wrote to Sam, responding to his optimistic notes about future income from the Paige typesetter, perhaps from Paige’s promises of payments from the Chicago backers.

Youth darling: Your letters rec’d this morning made me just about wild with pleasurable excitement. It does not seem credible that we are really again to have money to spend.

I rec’d this morning the check for nine hundred dollars from Mr. Hall. I have not needed to use the last check of 100 X 500 dollars [sic] that he sent me. Of course it was made out to you so if I had desired to use it I could not have done so very well, but I have not needed it. I have still nearly 1500 dollars with Charley [Langdon]. Well I tell you I think I will jump around and spend money just for fun, and give a little away if we really get some [LLMT 265].