Just back from two weeks in the French and Bohemian area watching the harvest. Saw some old friends, like fictional characters whose story she [Cather] keeps reading. Weather very hot. Surely she will not go abroad with the Kaiser acting like another Napoleon. Will get back to work in about a month in Pittsburgh. W. S. C. [Stout #285]
In middle of four-week stay in Paris, the most stunning city ever constructed. Has been marveling at it. The Tomb of Napoleon is very striking, maybe the most wonderful place on earth. French people are hardworking and conscientious, and yet they seem at ease in life. With love to the family. Willie
Saw Cape St. Vincent, Portugal, this afternoon, a place sacred to all with ties to England, and soon will see Trafalgar Bay, the site of Nelson's victory over Napoleon's navy. The sea floor here is covered with the skeletons of French, Spanish, and Italian sailors, thanks to Nelson. A British captain onboard commented that he thinks of Nelson's victory every time he passes this place. Is thinking of Nelson atop the column in Trafalgar Square, London, and his letter to Lady Hamilton [Nelson's mistress] in the British Museum, written the night before he died. "If Blood be the price of admiralty" [line from Rudyard Kipling's "Song of the Dead"]. Enjoys thinking of Nelson and the dead on the sea floor and the glory of the English navy and of his statue in Trafalgar Square protected by Landseer's lions, and the people's affection for Lady Hamilton. Wishes Roscoe could see these things with her.
