Edith Wharton's Roman Fever begins by introducing two middle aged widowed women, named Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley, that are accompanying their daughters on a tour of Rome. The women sit at a restaurant overlooking the city and both analyze and scrutinize the other as they sit in silence and reminisce on the time they spent in Rome when they were younger.
The two friends remember together of their mother's pleas to keep them in at night in fear of them catching the "Roman Fever", which Mrs. Ansley ended up contracting, and she was ill for many months. Mrs. Slade pries Mrs. Ansley with questions and asks her how she caught the fever, because she secretly knows why. Without any confessions from Mrs. Ansley, Mrs. Slade cracks and tells Mrs. Ansley that she had written the letter inviting her to the Colosseum, pretending to be her fiance Delphin. Mrs. Ansley, however reveals that Delphin did in fact meet her that night, and Mrs. Slade is caught off guard as she brags that it does not matter to her because Delphin was her husband for 25 years. Just when the reader thinks that the story is over, Mrs. Ansley then reveals that she had Barbara as a result of her night at the Colosseum with Delphin.
I found this story very entertaining, especially with the play on women and competition in friendships. Even though Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley are middle-aged and widowed, they still hold grudges and envious thoughts towards the other. They can no longer compete for a man, so they compare their daughters. Both women know in their hearts that they have betrayed their friend, but it is not until the end of the story that we realize they have both been stabbing each other in the back. I think that the ending of this story is necessary for the whole story to work together, and I love Wharton's use of Mrs. Ansley's illness of Roman Fever as a coverup for her illegitimate pregnancy.
