Impossible Life of Mary Benson, The

by Bolt, Rodney

  p.203 ‘Lucy came bustling in’ Watkins, Gwen, E. F. Benson, p.63

  p.203 She grew peevish Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, p.107

  p.203 ‘not about anything particular’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.213

  p.204 ‘which you will like and Lucy may think vulgar’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.206

  p.204 ‘Please thank Lucy very much’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.200

  p.204 Now nearly thirty, Maggie Description of Maggie from Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, pp.53, 88

  p.204 ‘if Maggie would only have an intimate relationship’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.46

  p.204 her friendships were seldom leisurely Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.122

  p.204 ‘absolute remorselessness’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.52

  p.204 ‘I never met anyone else so quick’ Hichens, Robert, Yesterday, p.64

  p.204 diagnosed in succession with rheumatism, heart problems Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.123

  p.206 ‘congestion, dilation, displacement’ Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, p.114

  p.206 ‘he would not think of forbidding me to go’ Asquith, Betty, The Bensons, pp.44–5.

  p.206 ‘quite hand in glove’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.161

  p.206 the Greek Royal Family Benson, E. F., As We Were, p.158; Benson, E. F., Our Family Affairs, pp.282–3

  p.207 ‘a row of Kings and Queens’ Benson, E. F., Our Family Affairs, p.305

  p.207 ‘fussed depression’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.160

  p.207 ‘I larf, I dew’ cited in Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, pp.113–14

  p.207 inseparable from Reggie Lister Benson, E. F., Our Family Affairs, pp.305ff; Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, p.108

  p.208 ‘he and Lord Alfred got on marvellously together’ Hichens, Robert, Yesterday, p.64

  p.208 ‘as clever in conversation as her brother’ Hichens, Robert, Yesterday, p.64

  p.208 ‘The only thing I should like more of’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.168

  p.208 ‘“like an Apollo”’ Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, p.111

  p.208 ‘Bas-reliefs of kings in chariots’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.169

  p.209 ‘I am really immensely happy’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.191

  p.209 ‘Maggie the centre of a howling mob’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.198

  p.209 a number of rare and significant finds Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, pp.200–2

  p.209 ‘that you wouldn’t have known your own daughter’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.201

  p.209 ‘allow any parleyings’ Ben. MS Benson Adds 14, Letter 13 February 1896

  p.209 a term commonly used when speaking of same-sex attraction This is pointed out in Vicinus, Martha, Intimate Friends, pp.xxii, 83, 200

  p.209 ‘I don’t want you not to be kind’ Ben. MS Benson Adds 14, letter 16 February 1896

  p.210 ‘I like her extremely’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.204

  p.210 ‘I like her more and more’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, pp.206–7

  p.211 ‘You can’t think how new’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.208

  p.211 ‘I feel nearer her now’ Diary 1896–8, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 12

  p.211 ‘last night I fell again’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 20

  p.211 ‘put away forever the red failing’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 13

  p.212 ‘A Private Prayer’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 12

  p.212 ‘Look here Ben’ Ben. MS Benson 3/28–29 fol 152

  p.212 ‘Nasty to me Ben?’ Ben. MS Benson 3/28–29 fol 166

  p.213 ‘the Queen’s cook!’ Benson, E. F., As We Were, p.122

  p.213 ‘I am prone to excess’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 13

  p.213 binges of eight at a time Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 15

  p.214 ‘Again a hideous failure’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 18

  p.214 ‘Bad, bad, and so I shall weigh’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 21

  p.214 ‘this attraction of the flesh’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 21

  p.214 ‘Today my sins’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 28

  p.214 ‘P. again’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fols 18–24

  p.214 Bulimia Details of symptoms of bulimia derived from Siegel, M., Surviving an Eating Disorder, and from American Anorexia Bulimia Association, Facts on Eating Disorders, www.eatingdisordersonline.com

  p.215 ‘deadliest and most constant foe’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 10

  p.215 ‘I lean so much on Lucy’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 11

  p.215 ‘It remains for her to be strong’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 26

  p.215 ‘Lucy’s complaints’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 8

  p.215 ‘selfish dislike to be anxious’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 8

  p.215 ‘times when the lights were low’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.27

  p.216 ‘that ghostly enemy of hers’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.174

  p.216 ‘Nine days now’ Benson, E. F., Our Family Affairs, p.174

  p.216 ‘couched in the shadow’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.28

  p.216 long after he had recovered his spring and vigour Benson, E. F., Mother, p.28

  p.216 ‘the primary desire of her heart’ Benson, E. F., Our Family Affairs, p.167

  p.217 From correspondence between the two brothers in 1925 cited in Palmer and Lloyd, Father of the Bensons, pp.203–4

  p.217 four hours or so each night E. W. Benson mentions his insomnia in (among others) an 1891 diary entry Ben. MS Benson 1/75 fol 26

  p.218 ‘the love of ruling’ Benson, A. C., The Trefoil, p.281

  p.218 ‘The note of the Primacy’ Benson, A. C., The Trefoil, p.283

  p.218 an affliction of the weaker sex Oppenheim, Janet, ‘Shattered Nerves’, p.141; Showalter, Elaine, The Female Malady, pp.135–7

  p.218 Muscular Christianity and manliness of spirit Oppenheim, Janet, ‘Shattered Nerves’, pp.141–6

  p.219 ‘required a buoyant vitality’ Williams, David, Genesis and Exodus, p.22

  p.219 ‘He is furious and won’t’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 10

  p.219 a ‘slave-driver’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.31

  p.219 ‘the cold hands to clutch’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 25

  p.219 From Mrs Benson’s Diary, Ireland Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 22ff

  p.221 poised ready to take the first sip Benson, A. C., Edward White Benson, Vol. II, p.773

  p.221 ‘a long white lace veil’ Benson, A. C., Edward White Benson, Vol. II, p.774

  p.221 ‘struck by his wellness’ Benson, A. C., Edward White Benson, Vol. II, p.774

  p.221 ‘very bright and full of talk’ Benson, A. C., Edward White Benson, Vol. II, p.774

  p.221 Edward died before the service was over Details of Edward Benson’s death from Mary Gladstone’s diary entries for those days, in Masterman, Lucy (ed.), Mary Gladstone (Mrs Drew), Her Diaries and Letters, pp.433ff; Benson, A. C., Edward White Benson, Vol. II, pp.774–5

  Part Three

  Chapter Thirteen

  p.225 ‘It was a soldier’s death’ Details of Edward Benson’s death and funeral from Benson, A. C., Edward White Benson, Vol. II, pp.776–8; Benson, E. F., Our Family Affairs, p.322; Newsome, David, On the Edge of Paradise, p.62

  p.226 ‘as if the roof were gone’ Asquith, Betty, The Bensons, p.72

  p.226 In his will Details of the will in Palmer and Lloyd, Father of the Bensons, pp.218–19

  p.227 Telegram from Her Majesty Queen Victoria cited in Palmer and Lloyd, Father of the Bensons, pp.201–2

  p.227 ‘necklace for glory & beauty’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 38

  p.227 ‘All the beauty of the past life’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1
/77 fol 32

  p.227 ‘The ship of my mother’s purposes’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.11

  p.228 ‘huge mournful house so lately humming’ Benson, E. F., Mother, pp.33-4

  p.228 ‘Everything was over’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.34

  p.228 ‘as tender as a child’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 33

  p.229 and on to Luxor Details of Egyptian trip from Our Family Affairs 313-14; Benson, E. F., Mother, pp.39ff

  p.230 ‘curious & difficult & rude’ Diary 1896–8, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 50

  p.230 ‘ardent and emphatic personality’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.238

  p.230 ‘his depressions, his impatience’ Benson, A. C., Unpublished Memoir of Mary Benson, Ben. MS Benson adds 12/3 pp.27–8

  p.230 placating him, pleasing him Benson. A.C., Unpublished Memoir of Mary Benson, Ben. MS Benson adds 12/3 p.28

  p.230 ‘I had to originate nothing’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 38ff

  p.230pp.230–31 not to his work itself Benson, E. F., Mother, p.56

  p.231 ‘she had absolutely no individual life’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.27

  p.231 ‘There is nothing within, Good Lord’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 35

  p.231 ‘what is it?. . . What can I do?’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 42

  p.231 replace it ‘with LOVE’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 48

  p.231 ‘Live from salvation not for it’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 51

  p.231 ‘this sun, this air, these sunsets’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 42

  p.231 ‘arch-enemy of her soul’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.27

  p.232 ‘I’m better, I’m better’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.45 ff

  p.234 ‘but where the home will be is not yet settled’ Account of the Queen’s interest from Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, p.126

  p.234 Princess Christian Benson. A. C., Unpublished Memoir of Mary Benson, Ben. MS Benson adds 12/3 p.23. Masters, in The Life of E. F. Benson, p.126, writes that the letter came from Princess Beatrice, citing correspondence held in a private collection. Both Arthur and Fred Benson write that the letter came from Princess Christian. Beatrice, the Queen’s youngest daughter, did indeed act as her unofficial private secretary – though Arthur notes that the letter came from Cumberland Lodge, which was home to Princess Christian.

  p.234 pronounced it unsuitable Benson, E. F., Final Edition, p.7

  p.234 She and Lucy took a house in Winchester Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.238; Benson, E. F., Mother, p.51

  p.234 ‘There is the Close, Mrs Benson’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.53

  p.234 ‘affairs swiftly and ardently a-stir’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.164

  p.234 ‘mediaeval in its setting and middle-aged in its actors’ The phrase is Fred’s, in Benson, E. F., Mother, p.53

  p.234 ‘the cessation of magnificent stimulus’ Benson, E. F., Final Edition p.10

  p.235 stood in a queue down St Thomas Street Details of the move from Benson, E. F., Mother, p.52

  p.235 ‘and tickles all the boys’ Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, p.141

  p.236 ‘go away and rough it for a year’ ACB Vol. 3 (August 1898–September 1899), p.101

  p.236 Letter from Henry James Benson, E. F. ed., Henry James, Letters to A. C. Benson and Auguste Monod, p.28

  p.237 ‘four square at tea like a penguin’ cited in Newsome, David, On the Edge of Paradise, p.64

  p.237 ‘I seemed to find myself’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 60

  p.237 ‘beating keen pulsating life’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 32, 60; Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 38

  p.238 ‘I sicken at all this everyday life’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 42

  p.238 ‘that he chose me deliberately’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 62

  p.238 ‘I was not associated with him in people’s minds’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 26

  p.238 ‘as a relic of him’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 28

  p.238 ‘2d. agreeableness’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 28

  p.238 ‘any life of my own’ Diary 1896–98, Ben. MS Benson 1/77 fol 60

  p.239 ‘They have aims’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 48

  p.239 ‘a way of disassociating people from their life’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 30

  p.239 ‘This flat dull leaden depression’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 43

  p.239 ‘in a good masculine way’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 45

  p.240 ‘Fred loves – and I love’ Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 59

  p.240 ‘It is all on so small a scale’ cited in Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, p.132

  p.240 ‘he is the only one of us four’ cited in Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, p.132

  p.240 ‘the slightest touch of sexual passion’ cited in Newsome, David, On the Edge of Paradise, pp.315–16

  p.241 ‘indescribable thrill of romance and desire’ cited in Newsome, David, On the Edge of Paradise, pp.42, 80, 149; Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, p.132

  p.241 ‘he found a little boy to play with’ cited in Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, p.133

  p.241 ‘they gripped her mind’ Benson, E. F., Final Edition, p.11

  p.242 ‘some masculine fibre’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.69

  p.242 ‘into her nature there passed’ Benson, E. F., Final Edition, p.12

  p.242 ‘There is in her displeasure’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 37

  p.243 ‘O God what to do’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 37

  p.243 ‘in a sort of dull slave spirit’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 38

  p.243 ‘I thought that this time’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 33

  p.244 ‘O what a drive!’ Asquith, Betty, The Bensons, pp.76–7

  p.244 ‘took it back at once’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 34

  p.244 leaving their guest to fend for herself Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 33

  p.244 given her inability to walk much Benson, E. F., Mother, p.69

  p.244 a walk down Fleet Street Benson, E. F., Mother, p.213

  p.244 ‘with sheer blank dismay’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.70

  p.245 ‘began to ooze into the water-supply’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.70

  p.245 ‘In the country she can have her sphere’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.70

  p.245 ‘His motto is anything to save trouble’ cited in Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, p.133

  p.245 ‘The entire decision has really been made’ ACB Vol. 3 (August 1898–September 1899), p.55

  p.245 just when he has got rooted ACB, Vol. 3 (August 1898–September 1899), p.55

  p.245 ‘I fear I don’t really want it’ cited in Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, p.133

  p.246 ‘had some need of change of residence’ Benson, E. F. (ed.), Henry James, Letters to A. C. Benson, p.50

  Chapter Fourteen

  p.247 Tremans – or Treemans Description of Tremans based on Benson, E. F., Mother, pp.73ff and Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, pp.260 ff

  p.248 ‘It doesn’t seem like a place to live in’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.390

  p.249 The Curious Tale. . . The report is based on the account given in Newsome, David, On the Edge of Paradise, pp.65–6 (where he gives an incorrect date) and Benson, A. C., The Life of Edward White Benson, Vol. II, p.783

  p.250 ‘speechless delight’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.263

  p.250 its very Englishness 4CB, Vol. 3, p.240

  p.250 ‘a middle-class taint about us’ cited in Newsome, David, On the Edge of Paradise, p.67

  p.250 ‘invigorated by village life’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.309

  p.250 shooting down corks Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.310


  p.250 Beth was installed in a room in the attic Details from Benson. A.C., Unpublished Memoir of Mary Benson, Ben. MS Benson adds 12/3 p.48; Asquith, Betty, The Bensons, p.84; Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.270

  p.251 ‘a visit to that realest fairy of all’ Watkins, Gwen, E. F. Benson, p.85

  p.251 ‘The world is divided’ Williams, David, Genesis and Exodus, p.156

  p.252 ‘What have you done?’ Benson. A.C., Unpublished Memoir of Mary Benson, Ben. MS Benson adds 12/3 p.51

  p.252 into one tower at Lambeth Palace Benson. A.C., Unpublished Memoir of Mary Benson, Ben. MS Benson adds 12/3 p.40

  p.252 ‘I LOVE the surroundings’ Ben. MS Benson 3/62 fol 168

  p.252 ‘throw myself into Tremaines’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 59

  p.252 ‘I am full of hope and heart’ Ben. MS Benson 3/62 fol 168

  p.252 ‘I feel deeply heavy hearted’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 58

  p.252 ‘no-one about and no amusement’ Diary 1898–1900, Ben. MS Benson 1/78 fol 59

  p.252 ‘I wanted golf and games’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.78

  p.252 ‘Fred hates it’ Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, pp.135–6

  p.253 ‘playing with his Earls and Countesses’ Asquith, Betty, The Bensons, p.84

  p.253 ‘joyful mother of children’ Benson. A.C., Unpublished Memoir of Mary Benson, Ben. MS Benson adds 12/3 p.45

  p.253 A. C. Benson’s novel The House of Quiet Benson, A. C., The House of Quiet, pp.12–13

  p.254 R. H. Benson’s novel The Necromancers Benson, R.H., The Necromancers, pp.17–18

  p.254 ‘The keen, kind air’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.83

  p.255 ‘one of the most silent of human beings’ Benson, E. F., Final Edition, p.13

  p.255 ‘very good at using help’ Benson, A. C., Maggie Benson, p.280

  p.256 A Scrap, on Tremans Writing Paper. . . Ben. MS Benson 3/63–64 fol 205

  p.256 ‘into a garment of praise’ Benson, E. F., Final Edition, p.10

  p.256 ‘the whole spirit and inspiration’ cited in Benson, E. F., Final Edition, p.132

  p.256 ‘evoked rather than dazzled’ Benson, A. C., Unpublished Memoir of Mary Benson, Ben. MS Benson adds 12/3 p.93

  p.256 ‘Faith is not a bundle’ Benson, E. F., cited in Final Edition, p.131

  p.257 ‘the full beauty of her character came out’ Williams, David, Genesis and Exodus, p.178