Sublime

Allenwood was in some respects the female equivalent of Groton: a pioneering school that offered the daughters of England’s elite a liberal education emphasizing social responsibility and personal independence.

It was the summer of 1929 when Tom first discussed with Perkins his relationship with a married woman, the celebrated scenic designer for the Neighborhood Playhouse, Aline Bernstein.

Flagler, however, was delighted with his good fortune. He and Mary Lily were married on August 24, with Flagler joined this time to a woman who was by all accounts his social and intellectual equal, and who would prove a faithful companion through the rest of his days.

In any case, seven days after his filing, Flagler’s engagement to Mary Lily was announced in newspapers throughout the South. Flagler was seventy-one, Mary Lily Kenan was thirty-four, and the public and press reacted accordingly.

She would be wife or servant, perhaps both.

James Kearney, an early biographer, suggested that when Eleanor wrote This Is My Story in 1937 she deliberately emphasized the unhappy aspects of her childhood because she wished to identify with the “agonizing insecurity and aspirations of American youth in the thirties.”

Running the White House was exclusively Eleanor’s domain, part of the balance of power she and FDR had achieved. And given her extensive public commitments, she was determined to have someone assist her who was loyal and trustworthy. Social awareness, an ability to cook, even a knowledge of food and wine were secondary. The assistant she chose was