Editing Natalie Clifford Barney (section)

===Liane de Pougy===

In 1899, after seeing the [[courtesan]] [[Liane de Pougy]] at a dance hall in Paris, Barney presented herself at de Pougy's residence in a [[Page (occupation)|page]] costume and announced she was a "page of love" sent by [[Sappho]].{{sfn|Rodriguez|2002|pp=88–93}} Although de Pougy was one of the most famous women in France, constantly sought after by wealthy and titled men, Barney's audacity charmed her.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2002|pp=87–88,92}}

[[File:Liane de Pougy (1900).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Liane de Pougy]] in 1900]]

Barney stood to inherit some family wealth held in trust if she either married or waited for her father's death.{{sfn|Souhami|2005|p=18}} While courting de Pougy, Barney was engaged to Robert Cassat, a member of another wealthy railroad family.{{sfn|Souhami|2005|p=12}} Barney was open with Cassat about her love of women and relationship with de Pougy.{{sfn|Souhami|2005|p=18}} In the hopes of securing the Barney trust money, the three briefly considered a rushed wedding between Barney and Cassat and an adoption of de Pougy.{{sfn|Souhami|2005|pp=18–19, 21}} When Cassat ended the engagement, Barney attempted unsuccessfully to persuade her father to give her the money anyway.{{sfn|Souhami|2005|p=21}}

By the end of 1899, the two had broken up after quarreling repeatedly over Barney's desire to "rescue" de Pougy from her life as a courtesan.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2002|pp=91, 95–97, 102–103}} Despite the breakup, the two continued having liaisons for decades.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2002|pp=103, 264–266}}

Their on-and-off affair became the subject of de Pougy's tell-all ''[[roman à clef]]'', ''Idylle Saphique'' (''Sapphic Idyll''). Published in 1901, the book and its sexually suggestive scenes became the talk of Paris, reprinted more than 70 times in its first year.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2002|pp=91, 93–94}} Barney was soon well known as the model for one of the characters.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2002|p=95}}

Barney herself contributed a chapter to ''Idylle Saphique'' in which she described reclining at de Pougy's feet in a screened box at the theater, watching [[Sarah Bernhardt]]'s play ''[[Prince Hamlet|Hamlet]]''.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2002|p=97}} During intermission, Barney (as "Flossie") compares Hamlet's plight with that of women: "What is there for women who feel the passion for action when pitiless Destiny holds them in chains? Destiny made us women at a time when the law of men is the only law that is recognized."<ref>As translated in {{harvnb|Wickes|1976|p=40}}.</ref>  She also wrote ''Lettres à une Connue'' (''Letters to a Woman I Have Known''), her own [[epistolary novel]] about the affair. Although Barney failed to find a publisher for the book and later called it naïve and clumsy, it is notable for its discussion of homosexuality, which Barney regarded as natural and compared to [[albinism]].{{sfn|Rodriguez|2002|pp=95, 101}}  "My queerness," she said, "is not a vice, is not deliberate, and harms no one."<ref>As translated in {{harvnb|Souhami|2005|p=57}}.</ref>