Family reunion. MC (Rider) goes off with little girl to a barn. She starts screaming and runs out of the barn with blood on her dress. Her first period? Did Rider assault her. Family in Nebraska is already suspicious of Rider and his family because they are the "California" relatives. Rider is not midwestern in any way, wearing too-short shorts, star sunglasses. He's also interested in art--nothing like his cousins who are suspicious, contemptuous, and mystified by him. Rider's mother has some beef with her brother, and there is the hint that Rider's father is not actually his father.
February 1895 (Alice died in 1892) Money problems, jealousy of Wilde; time spent with Lord Wolseley1; off to Ireland to lick his wounds; Irish unrest--Irish landlords boycott all social events; much time spent with manservant Hammond (homosexual attraction again); fancy dress ball, appalling to James, who is only happy in company of Hammond, though Hammond remains a servant and no more; little girl alone on the grounds--inspiration for Turn of the Screw?; conflict with Webster who alludes to Wilde's successful play and HJ's failure; Wolseley was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army . He became one of the most influential and admired British generals after a series of successes in Canada, West Africa, and Egypt, followed by a central role in modernizing the British Army in promoting efficiency. He served in Burma, the Crimean War , the Indian Mutiny , China, Canada and widely throughout Africa—including his Ashanti campaign (18...
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