Mark Twain was an outspoken advocate for monogamy. A few people thought that something may have been going on between him and his personal assistant Isabel Van Kleek Lyon. This theory has repeated been disgarded.
However, new developments indicate that something may have been going on. Twain wrote a 450-page manuscript about her that spanned 16 years of his life. Twain’s daughter didn’t care too much about Lyon and Twain didn’t care for his daughter’s homewrecking ways. Twain even arranged for his daughter to marry a conductor. Lyon knew about all of this and Twain wanted to protect his family brand and kept it a secret.
I haven’t read the book, but it appears as though Twain’s book about Lyon was a blackmailing piece intended to keep her mouth shut about his family business.
His health failing, Twain wrote his 450-page dossier on Lyon and instructed Clara to keep it and his lawyer handy in case Lyon ever surfaced to reveal the affair with Wark, and the loveless marriage to Gabrilowitsch: “He wanted to protect the brand,” says Trombley. “Anything that would detract from the brand would ultimately mean a smaller amount of royalties. You have narcissism and money. It’s a great combination.”
Source: LA Times
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