I sleepily said goodbye to Doris Sunday morning, and then went back to bed for a few more hours. When I woke up, I decided to spend the day getting room in order, and hopefully going to a gallery talk in conjunction with the women travelers exhibit at the Portrait Gallery. It took a lot of work to sort through all my laundry and really put everything away from trip up north. It hadn't been possible to really do this with two people's bodies and stuff in my small little room. I have to admit that I enjoyed doing this tidying up and found very relaxing after the whirl of the past week and a half. You have to remember I had been alone for a month and then suddenly had people around me for 24/7. Having finished with my laundry in time, I walked over to the gallery for the talk.

The talk was a dramatic reading of Lucie, Lady Duff Gordon's letters from South Africa and Egypt. The format was quite nice, with Susan Morris, clearly an expert on Gordon, giving background commentary and an actor of some sort doing the readings. It was just intellectually stimulating to interest me, but not too taxing for a Sunday afternoon. She had to live abroad in these drier climates because she had contacted tuberculosis and was, at this point, what was called consumptive (i.e. she coughed up blood). She became well respected by the natives of Egypt and disliked intensely most Europeans visiting the area. She became known as having a lucky look and was invited to look on big events and such to give them luck. I really liked that she quickly abandoned her corset and adopted a mostly male style of native dress. The people of the area though this a smart choice, and she was often welcome in all male gatherings or conversations. After the talk, I mentioned to Ms. Morris that she might look into Ouida's Under Two Flags, as it seems to relate to her own work. I always feel so awkward talking to speakers because one feels like one's asking for the autograph of some minor celebrity or something - like you're impinging on their privacy. After walking back to the Centre, I spent the rest of day putting my "affairs" in order and just relaxing for a bit.