...It was one of the great livery-stableman's most masterly intuitions to have discovered that Americans want to get away from amusement even more quickly than they want to get to it.

Wharton was a committed supporter of French imperialism describing herself as a "rabid imperialist" and the war solidified her political conservatism. In 1908 her husband's mental state was determined to be incurable. She called the villa "Sainte-Claire du Chateau" and filled the garden with cacti and subtropical plants.