After his wife's death, Otis Lord's letters to Dickinson
began to take a more passionate tone. In fact, Dickinson and Lord
almost seemed to conduct an affair by post. In 1878, Mrs. Dickinson
fell and broke her hip, and Dickinson's nursing duties increased.
Dickinson and Lord's correspondence from this time contains hints
about an impending marriage.
Dickinson's old school friend Helen Fiske Hunt had begun
writing, and was being published regularly. Dickinson and Hunt
corresponded regularly, and Dickinson kept close tabs on her friend's literary
successes. In 1863, Hunt's husband, Major Edward Bissell Hunt,
had been killed in an explosion during the Civil War. Later, she
had lost both of her children to illnesses. To distract herself
from her grief, Hunt had taken to writing fiction under pseudonyms,
usually "H.H." or "Saxe Holm." The same year her husband died, Hunt
had been encouraged by Colonel Higginson to write for magazines,
which she did. Under the Saxe Holme pseudonym, Helen Fiske Hunt
wrote a short story called "Esther Wynn's Love Letters" featuring
a lovelorn, reclusive poet who many people thought was modeled
on Dickinson. When Hunt moved to Colorado after marrying a banker
named William Jackson, she became intrigued by American Indians
and the complexities of their experience. She wrote Ramona as
a result of this fascination. Dickinson did not like much of Hunt's
writing, but she was an ardent supporter and an unfailing friend.
Hunt often tried to persuade Dickinson to get her poems published.
In fact, she asked Dickinson to contribute a poem anonymously to
an anthology called A Masque of Poets in the "No Name
Series." Dickinson was reluctant and even wrote to Thomas Wentworth
Higginson, begging him to advise against submitting a poem, since
she was too kindhearted to refuse Hunt without a valid excuse.
Higginson refused, and so Dickinson finally contributed a poem
called "Success is Counted Sweetest!" The book was published in
1878.
In 1882, Dickinson received an unexpected visitor: Dr.
Charles Wadsworth. Twenty years had passed since the two had last
seen each other. Wadsworth was sixty-eight years old, with three
grown children. During their visit, Wadsworth told Dickinson that
his youngest son William had, from the start, reminded him of Dickinson
in his affection for all small plants and animals. A few months
later, Dr. Wadsworth died of pneumonia. That same year, Dickinson received
word that Otis Lord had suffered a stroke.
In September 1882, Dickinson's neighbor, a woman named Mabel
Todd, came to visit Dickinson at the house. By this time, Dickinson
was turning away nearly everyone who called on her. She did not
turn Mabel away, although she did not exactly visit with her, either.
She had Mabel wait for her in the parlor and while in the parlor,
Mabel began playing the piano. Dickinson sat in the darkened hallway
foyer and listened, then slipped into the kitchen and had her maid
Maggie bring Mabel a glass of sherry and a poem. Dickinson then
disappeared back upstairs. Mabel Todd was the vivacious wife of
an astronomy professor at Amherst College and would, in the next
few months, become Austin Dickinson's mistress. She had moved to
Amherst from Washington, D.C. and felt out of place among the other
academic wives–she was a young and spirited woman, a gifted piano
player, a talented painter, and an aspiring writer. When Sue and
Mabel had first met in 1881, Mabel had found Sue a fascinating,
graceful woman, and hoped to form a meaningful friendship with
her. Mrs. Todd had heard about Dickinson from Lavinia, whom she
met at a party, but also from townspeople who called Dickinson
"the Myth." Once Susan read Mabel a few Dickinson's poems, which
intrigued and deeply impressed Mabel.
Meanwhile, Dickinson's mother had worsened and developed neuralgia,
a painful condition that causes the sufferer to feel stabs of pain
in the face. On November 13, 1882, Emily Norcross Dickinson died.
In January of 1883, it had become obvious that Austin had taken
an interest in Mabel, and Sue barred the woman from their home.
She was banished for eight months until Austin finally insisted
that Mabel be allowed to visit. Dickinson tried everything in her
power to reconcile the two women, but nothing worked. To make matters
worse, the loving relationship between Sue and Dickinson was strained
because Dickinson allowed Austin and Mabel to meet in the living
room of the Dickinson home.
In October of 1883, Gib fell gravely ill with typhoid
fever. He died, leaving the family broken and distraught. Two years
later, Helen Fiske Jackson died. It had an emotionally draining
five years for Dickinson, and her health suffered as a result.
Around this time, though, a Boston publisher began inquiring after
Dickinson's poetry. Helen Fiske Jackson had told the publisher
of to Dickinson's talent. Dickinson sent the publisher six poems
in response to his inquiries, all of which dealt with nature in
theme and imagery. The publisher decided to reject the poems for
publication. This was a tremendous disappointment for Dickinson,
and worsened the trauma of the death of her mother and the unexpected
passing of her beloved nephew. She slowly began to lose interest
in composition.
