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‘[Renée Vivien] also had a few lovers. She may have been faithful to Hélène during their official liaison, but in 1907 the Baronne left her for another woman. After a period of depression, Pauline turned into a minor seductress. Among her lovers were two courtesans—one of whom was Emilienne d’Alençon’

‘Pauline was buried alongside her father in the cemetery at Passy, steps away from Natalie’s eventual gravesite. In time, Hélène constructed atop her grave a tiny, neo-Gothic chapel with a granite altar and a pretty stained glass window. The walls inside are inscribed with lines from Tarn’s poetry. The epitaph, on an outer wall, is one she wrote herself.’

‘In the summer of 1908 Pauline tried to kill herself with an overdose of laudanum, a derivative of opium. From there everything went swiftly downhill. By early 1909, her state of health was in crisis, involving amnesia, partial paralysis of her limps, dysentery, and problems with her eyes. Hélène took on the job of caring for her. She begged Pauline to see a doctor and to eat, but she refused to do so. Despite her ailments, she continued drinking, going out, and even traveled to London to visit her sister.’