Mrs. Simpson with the Prince of Wales (her third husband)

he was staying at the Plaza Hotel in New York, so I went straight to him. And there I discovered a corner I had never known in the life of my reserved uncle... The reception room was crowded with pictures of actresses, signed with their autographs... and most of them were among the most beautiful women in the world... The idea took me by surprise, and I could not believe that Uncle Sol was their owner!... In short, I told him of my intention to visit Paris, and he launched into a sermon on the moral corruption of the French capital; my answer was that moral corruption can be found in any of God's wide cities. My uncle did not reply, but handed me a fistful of money which, after I had climbed into the car, I discovered to be five hundred dollars...

Corinne and I sailed in January 1924 on a small American ship, and we put up at a modest hotel on the Rue Pierre Charron... Fortunately we were not alone, for Corinne remembered a friend who held the post of military attaché at the American embassy... He invited us to dinner, accompanied by the embassy secretary — both of them bachelors... So it was a fortunate beginning, and through the two friends we came to know many com-panions... When Corinne went back to America, I stayed on in Paris with my women friends... And Win kept up his letters to me from the other end of the world... The curious thing is that during this period I spent most of my time with women who were divorced, or on the verge of divorce; and so I saw for myself that divorce is a failure, however one may try to cover it over and draw veils across it... When Win wrote inviting me to return to him, my friend Ethel was going home aboard the France... and a new idea occurred to me... Perhaps our relations would succeed in the East after they had failed in the West!

In June 1924 I returned to Washington with my mother; she could scarcely believe that I would go back to life with Win... The greatest motive that drove me to return was my feeling of his love, which I never lost for a moment during the period of estrangement... When he received me on the deck of the ship, he looked at me tenderly and said: I have not taken a drink since I learned you were coming back to me... Two weeks passed over us as though we were living our honeymoon all over again; my self-confidence returned. Then one evening we were invited to dine at the house of a friend of his, but Win did not come home at the usual hour, and I was forced to send a word of apology declining the invitation... He did not return until after midnight... Then his absences began to lengthen, without excuse or reason... When he traveled to Canton on a mission, it was expected that I would follow him. But I was stricken with a kidney ailment, and my fever rose... I still remember how Win dropped every responsibility and devoted his time to nursing me... When I recovered I returned to Hong Kong with my hopes renewed, but our situation went back to what it had been before... The monster of jealousy stirred in his breast, and he began accusing me of forming attachments with the officials; suspicion drove him to open all my letters; and more than that, he began frequenting the dance halls and night clubs, and took to drinking even before breakfast. Then I knew for certain that our marriage had been wrecked, and the winds had scattered its wreckage to nothing... So I stood up boldly to announce to him the end of the road, and the failure of the second attempt... He agreed with indifference... I traveled to Shanghai and stayed at a hotel much frequented by sailors' wives; one of them invited me one day to go to Peking, and I agreed in spite of the distance... During this period I had come to accept any proposal with a yes and a thank-you... I put up at the Grand Hotel de Pékin, meaning to stay