Letter from Hélène Bricka, White Lodge, Richmond Park, to Dr. William Baldwin, 1897 December 8 : autograph manuscript signed.

Expressing her concern and that of the Prince and Princess for his health, discussing the death of the Duchess and the deteriorating health of the Duke; saying "The Princess & the Prince desire me to say how very sorry they are that you must give up work, but they all think that it is wise & they send you their best wishes for a pleasant journey. You have their full confidence as you know & the Princess says that she longs to see you & to have a private talk. How truly prophetic your words to them & to Hood were! it is all too ghastly. From what I hear from some gossip in the neighbourhood Al. is done for, everybody is furious with W. - to have called in not a great authority or let Tom S. operate. You know that the second time A. came here at 3. left at 6. & he told a friend that he was in such agonies waiting for a telegram that H.R.H. was worse. Why did he leave her? When he was telegraphed for the fog was so thick that it took him 2 hours to arrive & all that time H.R. H. was in most excruciating pain - too awful to behold. I have not seen O'C. but Prince Alge [Prince Alexander of Teck] tells me that it was all Dr. W's doing that he was not called in as H.R.H. often said to Prince A.: If ever I want an operation it is O'C. & nobody else! & yet such was W.'s power over her that she had to give way! Do you remember my telling you from Belford how swollen the legs were, what a grey colour H.R.H. was! Good God! What is the use brooding over all this! I am heartbroken & the state of affairs here is worse than death. Since H.R.H.'s death the poor Duke was getting worse & worse; his temper terrific, his speech incomprehensible so that at last Dr. Savage was called in & he thought him so ill that he said 'it is only a matter of a few weeks. The man is dying & he must have a medical man, who understands these cases, resident here. But how was this to be done! Wadd, all importance, now & then told the Duke that he was not well, that he ought to be taken care of but the Duke never took in what he meant, so after many consultations between the Princes, the Princess, W. it was decided that the Doctor D. Johnston should see the Duke one day & arrive to luncheon the next & that the Duke should be told this gentleman is going to take care of you. Well, as Prince Alge & I were left alone here we put our heads together & both saw that such a plan was not feasible. That the Duke would resent such a course. So I wrote to Prince Dolly [Prince Adolphus of Teck] to tell him my opinion & urged him to get the Queen to write to the Duke & advise him to have a doctor in the house - the next day the Prince A. telegraphed - Leave all in your hands - - Upon this I acted. Prince Alge wrote at once to the Queen. The coachman took down the letter & the next morning we received the Queen['s] letters. Dr. Johnston arrived. I kept him in my room & Prince A. took the letters to his father. Poor dear Duke; he was astonished, furious that his children should do such a thing. But the Prince said that they had nothing to do with the matter. The Queen knew he was alone, sad, ill & it is her wish to have a man - At once the Duke wrote to the Queen that he will obey her & later on Dr. Johnston went to the front door, sent in his card, as from the Queen. The Duke received him at once most kindly asked him to remain, looked that he was comfortable and all went off well to the astonishment of the children who thought that there would be a most terrific row. Of course he (the Duke) came & told me the whole story & I pretended I knew nothing - Now the man has been here since the 4th & all has gone on well; the strain on us all is dreadful to try to understand the Duke - to try to help him & then to get scolded when you cannot find the word he wishes is almost too much for me. I wanted to go away when the others went but he won't let me & I think it would be unkind if I were to leave now before Prince Alge goes back. He leaves on the 18th Dec. for Pietermaritzburg. It will be a sad day for the Duke who does not seem to realize that the Prince is going. His mind is very weak & yet at time[s] he is quite clearheaded & remembers things that we are quite astonished. The Dr. says that there is not the slightest hope that he will get better - There are so many debts that a great many things will have to be sold in the spring. This kills the Duke. You know how be loves his home with what pride he arranged everything. It is too, too sad here & it seems to get worse as time goes on - I have only been to London once. I hate to be asked questions - all is so painful to me. Tear up this letter. I know all this will interest you & I know what a friend you are. Let me hear from you, letters addressed here will always find me. I mean to take some rooms in town to put my things in & then have a long rest. I am very tired & my brain is aching;" asking, in a postscript, if he received the photos that the Duke & Duchess of York sent to him at Harley Street.