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Show Chapter 16 DID THE BRIGHT DREAM FADE? "He of all men loved me best." This statement, made by Ellis in her later autobiographical sketches at age 83, is a bit obscure. What is she saying-this woman who only loved one man her whole life through? Is she saying, in a slightly veiled manner, that he loved her better than he loved the other women who were his wives? In this same context, Ellis contends that Milford loved her at first sight. He may have told her this as he was trying to vindicate himself in the awkward position of having married another during his courtship of Ellis; and it may have been true. Open to less speculation is the notion that she loved him at first sight, and that through only a picture. In these later years, with so few references to her husband, and the fact that he was not with her (indeed, indications are that he may not have been with any of his wives), one has a sense of something lost. Where is the great love that should have seen Milford and Ellis hand in hand, their faces glowing toward a common sunset? Maggie was able to keep her love for B. H. Roberts radiant to the very end. Ellis was just as truly a woman. Ellis never seems to have said anything negative about Milford. But her very silence must say something. Is it that her earlier perceptions of his infallibilities altered? If so, what circumstances led to such a change? Surely his consistent business |
