Where Eleanor and Hick stayed in Quebec City

Where Eleanor Roosevelt and her dearest friend,
Lorena Hickok, let themselves be pampered.   [photo by Sylvia Manning]

We took a break from the goats and quilts and Eleanor drove us to Quebec, to Château Frontenac, telling me, as we got to the outskirts, Close your eyes.  I think when I am an old lady, when people have to shout to get my attention, you could murmur, Château Frontenac, and I will smile like a cat paw-deep in cream.  Eleanor did for us what she never liked doing for herself and she did it on a grand scale, with gilt edges.  We sat, I should say, we cavorted, in the French Canadian lap of luxury.  We got massages together with two strong ladies coming into our suite with two massage tables, picnic baskets of warm towels, and rose and orange oils.  I pretended that I'd somehow wandered in from the hideaway bed in the living room.  They set up the tables and indicated we should strip and wrap ourselves in sheets.  We did and we tottered over to the tables, to be rubbed and patted by these two frowning women who couldn't understand our language.  Our faces were only two feet apart, our bodies glistening with rose-scented oil.

I said, "This is too much."
"I know," Eleanor said.  "We have manicures after lunch."


from White Houses, by Amy Bloom.  NY:  Random House, c2018.