Empty Mansions

an admirable sort of class neutrality on Anna’s part, but also a kind of self-limiting only to circumstances she could control.
    And then Leontine stopped speculating and said, “It’s too complicated. You can’t know someone’s mind.”
    THE STAFF

 
    In 1940, there were ten servants in residence at 907 Fifth Avenue to take care of a family of two. Well, actually, a family of three, because an aunt of Anna’s, Pauline De Lobel, had moved in. A few of the servants lived in the two apartments with Anna and Huguette, but most were in the small rooms on the roof. Here are those thirteen residents, as enumerated by the census taker, with their birthplace and education. Notice the countries where the staff hail from, and which country is missing from the list.
    The family:
    Anna E. Clark, 62, widow, Michigan, one year of high school.
    Huguette Clark, 33, divorced, France, four years of high school.
    Pauline De Lobel, 65, widow, Belgium, grade eight.
    And the staff:
    Helen Ives, personal maid, 52, single, England, salary $1,500/ year, grade eight.
    Hilda Carlson, personal maid, 48, single, Sweden, $1,080, grade eight.
    Shyra Golden, cook, 40, widow, Sweden, $1,080, two years of high school.
    James Smith, butler, 38, widower, New York, $1,010, grade eight.
    Anna Flatley, waitress, 36, single, Ireland/Galway, $1,008, one year of high school.
    Joseph Jones, chauffeur, 42, single, New York, $980, grade eight.
    Margaret Duffy, parlor maid, 39, single, Northern Ireland, $960, grade eight.
    Paula Hauger, cook, 57, single, Norway, $900, grade eight.
    Gurbild Berker, assistant cook, 34, widow, Sweden, $840, one year of high school.
    Anna Erickson, chamber maid, 27, single, Finland, $840, grade eight.
    Which country is missing from the list of the staff? France. The Clarks could keep confidences by speaking and writing in French.
    The Clarks paid wages slightly better than was typical in the building. An annual salary of $1,000 in 1940 would be equal to about $16,400 today, not counting room and board. Their downstairs friend and neighbor, Margaret Price Daly, widow of W.A.’s old antagonist Marcus Daly, made do with a staff of only five.
MADAME CEZANNE

 
    O NE MIGHT HAVE GUESSED that Anna, as the much younger second wife, would have had little connection with W.A.’s children from his first marriage. Indeed, the terms “gold digger” and “adventuress” were thrown around a bit in some quarters of the family, but quite a few Clarks speak of Anna fondly, remembering her as vivacious, a warm hostess, a lot of fun at a cocktail party, and a bit salty in her humor. Even the closest Clarks, however, never developed a connection with Anna’s daughter Huguette.
    In the years between the world wars, Anna often invited the children of her stepson Charlie Clark over for musical afternoons in Apartment 8W at 907 Fifth Avenue. She enjoyed playing the harp and gossiping about music and musicians with Charlie’s three daughters, Mary, Agnes, and Patsey. They were close to Huguette in age, her half-nieces, though that sort of “half-niece” phrase was not one the family ever used. Raised in California, all three had spent some time in New York with Huguette at Miss Spence’s, and attended debutante parties at Pierre’s. Huguette said later that she was very fond of Agnes and her sisters and that her mother had continued to invite the nieces for short summer visits to Santa Barbara so the girls could stay in touch.
    The next generation, however, never made much of a connection with their great-aunt Huguette. Patsey’s son, Jerry Gray, recalled a time in the early 1940s when a group of them were sitting on the sand or in low chairs near the beach house at Bellosguardo. He was about nine and Huguette was in her thirties. Anna was animated and participated in the conversation, but Huguette, staring silently at him, never said a word. Afterward, Jerry’s father said, “She has never been able to grow up.” And his mother said, “It’s so sad that all she can do is play with dolls.”
    Huguette’s attachment to her dolls was indeed unusual.A photograph survives of a Clark dinner party in a restaurant, with a group including Anna and Huguette, who looks to be about sixteen, so this would be about 1922. Anna is recognizable in her bangs, resting her chin on herwhite-gloved hand. One of Huguette’s half-nieces, wearing a corsage, is also at the table. The three gentlemen in the photo are dressed in black tie. Seated at the