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The Fifth Avenue apartment of the Bedaux is at present let to Actress Gertrude Lawrence. It still smells of lilac, a perfume so much liked by Mrs. Bedaux that she has quarts of it always handy, ready to be sprayed about the rooms. On the 53rd floor of the Chrysler Building, Mr. Bedaux's office is done in weathered oak with a medieval monastery effect. According to Manhattan's World-Telegram this week, Mrs. Bedaux has said, "If Charles had horns he would be the Devil," and she used to appear sometimes at parties he gave in Greenwich Village in an apartment he leased under an assumed name, transforming it now into a Japanese, now into an East Indian or other exotic setting.
In Washington last week officials testily told correspondents off the record that Mr. Bedaux's preliminary cablegrams from Europe have packed all the punch to be expected from a self-made man who has risen so far and so fast. The Efficiency Expert apparently got the impression over that something distinctly more official was expected than for the Duke of Windsor and President Roosevelt simply to eat a Gridiron Club Dinner and for the Duchess simply to dine at the Women's National Press Club. Out of the Melting Pot meanwhile poured thousands & thousands of letters about the Duke and Duchess from U. S. citizens to the White House, the State Department, the Interior and Labor Departments and the National Parks Service. About seven out of ten stressed "American democracy," recalled the democratic reputation of His Royal Highness when he was Prince of Wales and "Britain's Goodwill Ambassador" and criticized the Administration for "snubbing the Duke thus far." The remaining letters called Mr. Bedaux such things as a Fascist blood sucker, identified the Duke as his dupe and indicated that to the irate writers the Duchess will always be Mrs. Simpson.
The Bedaux arrived on the Europa same day that Captain Ernest Aldrich Simpson was discovered among the Queen Mary's, disembarking passengers (see p. 40) along with British Ambassador Sir Ronald Lindsay. Sir Ronald divulged that he had "dropped around" to see Mr. Bedaux in London about Windsor's plans, had himself "scratched down the names of a few cities" as possible suggestions. Mr. Bedaux, after going into a half hour huddle with his lawyer, denied that he was the Duke's "manager," said the Duke preferred to make his own announcements. Nobody knew whether or not, as reported, President Roosevelt had decided to ask the Duke & Duchess to lunch. It seemed certain that Mrs. Roosevelt would be away on a lecture tour. At latest reports the President seemed to be waiting for U. S. opinion to crystallize, the higher officials of the British Embassy in Washington were icicles of frigid reserve, and cables from the Duke and Duchess had declined with thanks the Gridiron dinner and Women's Press Club invitations.