As a child he had seen his mother exhausted by her cleaning duties. “Home does not entail a spotless kitchen and a faultless parlor,” William wrote. “Home does entail the presence of hearts that beat in unison—whether the shelter be a hovel or a palace.” He was offering her the same freedom to pursue her intellectual ambitions that she had always extended to him—but did she really mean that? In her private heart did Elizebeth wish that her husband had more of a bank account and less of a brain? “Elsbeth, my Dearest, when you say that you want
