New-York Tribune - Monday, May 20, 1895
This report was originally published in English. Machine translations may be available in other languages.
MRS. FRANK LESLIE'S PLANS.
TO LEASE HER BUSINESS TO A SYN-
DICATE.
HER DESIRE TO BE RELIEVED FROM SUCH
HARD
WORK AS SHE HAS BEEN DOING - SHE
DENIES SOME REPORTS ABOUT
HER RELATIONS WITH
THE WILDES.
Mrs. Leslie read what purported to be an interview with her published yesterday, wherein she was made to say that the reason of her temporary retirement was for the sole purpose of making an extended stay in England with Lady Wilde to comfort her in her affliction. She was also stated to have expressed sympathy with Oscar Wilde in his present position, and to have referred to her former husband, Willie Wilde, "as only a wayward boy" for whom she still felt great friendship. In response to an inquiry as to the truth of the report, she answered with perceptible indignation:
"The whole thing is a farrago of nonsense, and I have never given utterance to any such words, and I think it is cruel that my name should be constantly mixed up in the scandal. There has been absolutely no foundation whatever for the statements which have been frequently published, where I have been supposed to comment upon the merits of the case and to express my convictions of the innocence of Oscar Wilde. I have never said more regarding him but that I always found him courteous, affable and entertaining.
"It is untrue also that I am going on a visit to Lady Wilde. I have not seen her for some years, and I assure you that I do not feel so absorbing an interest in the Wilde family as people try to make out. I should be glad if The Tribune would make my position in this respect clear once and for all. And then, the absurdity of the report that I have spoken of ‘Willie’ as being ‘a wayward boy only,' and that our marriage was a mistake that would not interfere with our friendship! My marriage with ‘Willie’ Wilde was a blunder. I am well aware, and I had to pay the penalty for it, and I can assure you there is no friendship for him on my part, nor do I intend to meet him in London. I have never referred to him, and especially not as ‘a wayward boy.' That would be too silly for anything. Why, he is the eldest of the family, and Oscar, the youngest, admits that he has reached the forties."