Crazed by Love; Cured by Revenge: Henry James in Las Vegas

By Lawrence Ianni

Henry James Ferguson becomes gravely depressed by the end of his relationship with his longtime partner, Trevor Schmitz, who leaves him because a new lover has the means to further Schmitzs career as a sculptor. After several months of residential care, Ferguson becomes delusional at the facility in which his attorney sister has placed him for psychiatric care. Ferguson thinks he is the male character in a book by the author on whom he is a nationally recognized scholar. As that man, he escapes to pursue the woman whose love he has lost. His pursuit leads to Las Vegas, where several situations and actions occur that are widely out of character for the staid, gay professor. From there he goes to the annual celebration of life called Burning Man, held in the Nevada desert. There, he expects to find the woman he seeks. The unusual circumstances at the weeklong celebration result in activities that restore his sanity and give new and positive direction to his life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Apr 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9781475984194

Lawrence Ianni

After a long career in university teaching (linguistics and American literature) and administration (assignments as academic vice president and chancellor), Lawrence Ianni has devoted himself to his love of storytelling. His first three novels, written over the pseudonym Poe Iannie, are a trilogy of tales of the absurdities of the academic life. His five most recent novels tell of the inescapable predicaments that roil the lives of people pursuing reasonable goals in the face of unreasonable opposition. Ianni is retired and lives in California.

Book preview

1

Winterbourne focused out of his reverie and put down the book that had lain forgotten on his lap. He realized something suddenly and sharply. Before lapsing into his daydream, he had been thinking about the wording of the note that Daisy had sent. She said that she had hoped he would think well of her, but she had meant so much more than that. He had not really understood her meaning until now. If he would have told her that he loved her, she implied, she would have admitted to her similar feelings for him. Of course he had been able to tell that she cared for him, but he had fought against telling her of the strength of his own feelings for her. Her unconventional display on the promenade in Rome was still vivid in his mind. He had misjudged her character from that and other behavior during their entire time together. Hence, he had placed no value on whatever she felt for him. At the time, he had interpreted her note as regret over lost friendship.

Winterbourne rationalized for a moment that he had not immediately grasped the more intimate implications of her note because it was delivered together with the shocking news of her death. He rejected the temptation to blame Giovanelli for taking Daisy out into the night air despite Winterbourne’s warning of the danger of infection that was prevalent. It was typical of Daisy’s behavior to insist on going despite Winterbourne’s warning. He had no one but himself to blame for his earlier blindness and insensitivity to the intimate meaning of her note.

Now that Winterbourne accurately understood her message, another thought entered his mind. Until now, he believed the report that she was dead; now he was sure she was still alive. The report of her death was either a mistake or a callous deception perpetrated by someone. Perhaps Daisy’s mother, who no doubt thought, with valid reason, that he had been unkind to her daughter, desired to prevent any renewal of Winterbourne’s attentions to Daisy. Or perhaps that fool Giovanelli, who spoke of Daisy so favorably upon delivering the note, had concocted the lie out of jealousy. He had spoken so sanguinely of never having had a chance with Daisy, but he perhaps harbored vengeful feelings at losing so golden an opportunity as to win the beautiful and wealthy American girl. It must have been obvious to Giovanelli that Daisy loved Winterbourne. The man had obviously relished telling Winterbourne that he had misjudged Daisy’s character. Giovanelli implied that he himself had not confused Daisy’s vivacity and defiance of the social conventions of the expatriate community in Rome as a lack of character, as Winterbourne had.

Now the indirectness of Daisy’s expression of love enhanced her desirability. He thought wryly that she seemed to have been infected with a bit his own reserve in expressing his feelings. More likely she had meant to avoid that candor and zestfulness that he had misunderstood as shallow flirtatiousness and possible inconstancy. Her energetic enjoyment of life had been part of her charm, but he had feared that it indicated at the least a painful lack of taste, or worse, a lack of virtue that outweighed all her attributes that he found so attractive.

He had lost so much in misjudging her. He fully appreciated that she could not express her love until he expressed his first. Indeed, her reserve raised her higher in his esteem. He had been dense not to understand her, not just her note but the total style of her behavior during the time of their acquaintance. His aunt had analyzed the outcome correctly. He had been in Europe so long that he did not know how to interpret the behavior and verbal style of his American countrymen whose social deportment and rhetoric were formed by the milieu of their homeland uninfluenced by any other style of social behavior.

But he was back home in America now, and he was fully Americanized again. If Daisy was, as he believed, alive and returned to her home since their abrasive parting in Rome, he must now find her and confess his love. It might not be too late to capture the happiness that he had let slip away.

Practical considerations had to be managed. This place where he was recovering from his illness supervised him carefully. He complained regularly about what he felt to be unnecessary restrictions. Whatever his physical ailment had been, he felt fine now. He would have left already but for the staff’s insistence that his sister’s permission, as the person responsible for managing his affairs during his illness, was necessary. Waiting for her next visit to discuss it with her seemed perfectly reasonable until now. He knew the city where Daisy lived; he was perfectly able to begin a journey immediately.

There were only two obstacles to his starting without delay, and he thought they were both surmountable. He would have to evade his caretakers to begin his journey, and he needed some money. Control of all of his funds had been transferred to his sister, the attorney, when he arrived. The money he had on his person on arrival had supposedly been taken for safekeeping. The staff had explained that anything that he wanted or needed would be provided, making possession of money beyond a small allowance unnecessary. Obviously he could not insist on the return of the money without arousing suspicion that he meant to leave. The amiable attentiveness of the staff was likely to be replaced with more intense observation if he asked for money. He could overcome the financial obstacle by doing something he would never before have considered. He had in his nightstand the antique watch originally belonging to his grandfather that his father had passed on to him to celebrate the completion of his education. If he pawned it, it would surely yield enough money to support him for a frugal trip across the country to the upstate New York city where Daisy’s family resided. He would work out his departure plan in his mind thoroughly and be on his way as soon as circumstances were right.

Winterbourne found the mixture of control and permissiveness exercised by the staff at the Sunset Residential Care Center puzzling. They said he was not well enough to leave although he felt fine physically. He freely roamed the grounds during the day with what seemed like no more than casual observation at some distance by the staff; however, the windows in his room could not be opened, and the exits to the building were locked at night. These circumstances in addition to the presence of alert staff throughout the night made him feel more like an inmate rather than a patient. He had to admit, however, that they were caring rather than callous. The staff was solicitous and deferential. Strangely, they occasionally failed to recognize him, calling him Dr. Ferguson rather than Mr. Winterbourne for some unaccountable reason.

He meant to leave fully equipped with clothes, travel needs and funds to make the journey to Schenectady, New York, where Daisy lived. It would not do to pack a bag in advance for it would be immediately noticed before he could arrange to escape at night. Nighttime was the obvious time to leave since it would provide a space to elapse before his absence was noticed. Fortunately, the small window in his bathroom did open, The staff had no concern with that because the window was much too small for anyone to get through it. However, his flattened canvas bag had been slipped through it to fall behind the juniper bushes under the window. Winterbourne sent small packets of clothing and his toiletry kit, each wrapped in newspaper, following the bag into the shrubbery. He would assemble the separate packets and their travel container once he was outside the building.

Of course, to make an unobserved exit from the building was his most difficult task. Perhaps difficult but not impossible, he thought. He knew from past experience that any emergency maintenance that occurred at night would result in the alarms on the exit doors being turned off so that workmen could enter and exit repeatedly as necessary. When his travel gear was deposited outside and he was ready to leave, he created a plumbing emergency. The spot he chose for the diversion had the additional benefit of causing the water from an upstairs restroom to leak down into the room of Blaine Andrews, a man who, by his over-assertive behavior about everything from the significant to minutiae made the lounge virtually uninhabitable for other residents. He could count on Andrews to lodge an immediate complaint irrespective of the hour and hence create the circumstances that would permit Winterbourne to exit the building unnoticed. Under cover of darkness, he would gather his belongings and be on his way, carrying the watch he meant to use as the source of funds for his trip to re-unite with Daisy.

As it turned out, initiating the long distance part of his journey after he had left the grounds was a much more involved process than he had anticipated. His first task was to make his way to an urban part of Los Angeles, where he could convert his antique watch to cash. It was obvious that a shop in a less affluent part of town would not do, for it would yield a minimal selling price. With a combination of walking, offered rides and the use of the few dollars in his pocket for bus fare, he spent seven hours after leaving the facility that had been his abode for longer than he could recall to arrive at a promising neighborhood. He knew that, unlike many cities with a single well-defined center that housed commercial and other public facilities integral to urban living, Los Angeles had these entities in diverse and duplicate locations. However, with the use of one of the rare public telephones which had a directory that vandals had somehow overlooked, he found a jeweler that bought and sold quality jewelry and watches.

The fifteen hundred dollars that he received for the watch was considerably less that he had hoped for to fund his trip across the country, but he was undeterred. He made his way to the bus station, this mode of transport being what was likely to be his cheapest means of travel.

2

Jessica Ferguson had just begun a sensitive negotiation over child custody in a rancorous divorce when a call came urging her immediate presence at the Sunset Residential Care Center. Pleading a family emergency, she broke off the meeting and drove immediately to the facility where her brother, Henry James Ferguson, who was under treatment for depression, resided. When she arrived, the embarrassed but repetitively reassuring director of the center, Dr. Woodcraft, reported that her brother had disappeared from his room some time during the previous night. Sitting with her on the settee in his office, he began to tell her as much as the staff had been able to establish about her brother’s disappearance.

Jessica interrupted him and asserted, I’m stunned, Dr. Woodcraft. How could you people let this happen? You know my brother’s condition. He could wander away any time in the midst of one of his fantasies. Surely he is kept under constant supervision.

Of course he is, Ms. Ferguson, Woodcraft hastened to assure her. Aware that Jessica Ferguson was a very successful lawyer in Los Angeles, he undoubtedly was already fearful of a lawsuit over Henry James Ferguson’s disappearance, even though he was confident that his patient would be back in the center’s care shortly. You must remember that your brother is unlike a dementia or Alzheimer’s patient. He does not enter a confused and disoriented state when he lapses into his alternative persona. His fantasy captivates him completely, but he functions as rationally as he does at the times he is his normal self. He had no consciousness of his normal self during the time that he is under the impression that he is that other person, in his case, the author Henry James. When I tell you the particulars of your brother’s plans to make his departure, you will understand that he is not some mentally confused individual who wandered away.

Jessica’s lateral shake of her head revealed her skepticism. You know I’ve always had my doubts about this other personality you say that my brother assumes. I’ve never experienced his being in such an altered state. You know that he is, during his normal career as a university professor, a specialist in the novelist Henry James and his work. Out of that breadth of knowledge, don’t you think that it is possible that he occasionally indulges in a little harmless role-playing and is not really under the impression that he is someone else?

Dr. Woodcraft showed that look of patience that he resorted to when he had to deal with skeptical lay people who resisted what was so apparent to him as an experienced observer of mental aberrations. It will be hard for you to avoid the reality that your brother is a victim of split personality disorder when the particulars of his plan to escape show that he now is being guided by his alternative personality.

Just what are those particulars, doctor? Jessica asked impatiently. Her brother Henry James was missing, perhaps in danger, and the man responsible for the safety of her older brother seemed much too calm about the situation.

First of all, let me assure you that a very vigorous search is being conducted to find him as we speak.

How do you even know where to look?

As I said, what we know of your brother’s preparations to evade the restraining circumstances with which he had to deal suggest to us the possibilities of where to search.

Impatient for Woodcraft to continue, Jessica suppressed another question and looked at her brother’s therapist expectantly. Woodcraft looked at his notepad rather than at her and began a recitation. Most of his clothes are gone, in fact the variety of apparel indicates a clearheaded preparation for a journey. The absence of toiletries in his room further supports this conclusion. In fact, what he took would fill the canvas carryall that is also missing from his room. A packed bag in his room or seen in his possession would have alerted us to his intentions. The staff saw nothing of the kind. He must have given careful thought to how and when to depart. We surmise he may have been responsible for a plumbing emergency that we had last night which resulted in the door alarms being turned off to permit workmen to move in and out. The staff’s attention being focused elsewhere unfortunately facilitated his leaving.

Jessica smiled despite her concern for her brother’s safety. My brother Henry never lacked inventiveness. His writings on the author for whom he was named, as you know his full given name is Henry James, are admired for their original insights. I don’t see how knowing how he left is going to help us find him.

Woodcraft’s expression conveyed the attitude that his scholarly patient did not have the sole franchise on cleverness. The book that Dr. Ferguson left open beside his chair prompts the obvious conclusion that he was reading a James story when he slipped into his delusion. One must consider that the writer was not only the focus of his professional life but also someone with whom he shared a name given in honor of that same writer. It is therefore reasonable to assume that his having assumed the identity of the writer Henry James is not only a logical but a likely possibility.

Assuming that you are right, Jessica mused, what does that tell you about where to look for him?

I think that he is going home, which in the case of the novelist would be Boston, the psychiatrist stated confidently.

But, Dr. Woodcraft, my brother has been reading books by Henry James ever since he has been living here. Why would reading one now cause him to slip into a delusion? Why not before this? Jessica strove to avoid an argumentative tone. Although she was unconvinced by Woodcraft’s analysis and worried about locating her severely depressed brother, Jessica was concerned that showing hostility would impede the search for her cherished older sibling.

"Your brother’s association with the identity of the great writer who has been such a significant focus of his life has probably always been lurking in his sub-conscious. The attainment of a full-pledged delusion probably reached critical mass as this time.

Jessica thought over Woodcraft’s analysis for a while before she asked, I take it you place no significance on the particular work by James that my brother happened to be reading at the time? What was it?

"It’s a short novel called Daisy Miller. Do you know it?"

Jessica nodded affirmatively. It’s about a young American girl traveling in Europe, as I recall.

That’s the one, Woodcraft confirmed. She falls in love with an American expatriate who seems to respond with similar feelings, but misjudges her character and breaks off his involvement, causing her to undertake some reckless behavior.

Might the story have something to do with locating my brother? That is, the writer trying to step into the world of his creation? Jessica proposed the notion with a tentativeness that betrayed that she was feeling out of her depth.

Woodcraft’s professional experience had trained him not to react visibly where assertions by lay people struck him as outrageous. With heavily applied professional restraint, he said to his patient’s sister, Your theory requires an incredible leap from your brother’s reading of a story which he has no doubt read many times. Why would reading it again have prompted him to pack a bag and depart his safe and comfortable haven?

Jessica felt defensive. I don’t think it’s any more of a stretch than your own theory. First of all, you say my brother’s alternate personality is the writer Henry James himself. A delusional Henry James might lose sight of the distinction between his fictional creation and the real world, if I may apply that term to a delusional existence.

Woodcraft was quick to counter. But Daisy Miller dies in the story. Even a delusional Henry James should conclude he can’t pursue a character he killed off in his story.

The therapist looked at Jessica confidently. I know that you’ve always had doubts that your brother is a split personality. But if you’ll assume for a moment that he is one, you can’t apply the logic of normal thinking to his thought processes.

Jessica could not hide her skepticism, to which Woodcraft responded in a conciliatory manner. "My theory is the most likely explanation of why he left and where he may be going. However, I will also have our investigators check out what you have suggested the moment my theory fails to turn up your brother. We will see if the delusional writer has entered the world of his