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During this time Virginia began to feel ill. Edgar had encouraged her singing and according to Muddy she had become a \"perfect musician.\" But in January 1842 Virginia was bleeding from her mouth when she sang. She was in the early stages of tuberculosis.
Virginia\'s illness took Poe very hard and he made everything he could to help her. Every cough from her made him shudder. His marriage to Virginia had meant a lot to Poe. It managed to keep him calm and kept him from drinking, and living isolated with his close relatives, like Dupin and the Ushers, made it possible for him to be in the center of attention.
While watching over Sissy Poe wrote two Gothic tales that were published in Graham\'s. \"Life in Death\" is about a painter and his sick wife, whom strongly resembles Virginia. The painter refuses to see that his bride is dying as he paints her portrait. \"The Mask of the Red Death\" is about Prince Prosperto who tries to save his diseased country from this figure called \"The Red Death\". In Red Death Poe wrote that \"the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all\" which shows of an attitude that is very rare in Poe\'s work, because death is not normally a terminal thing for him. Both stories shows of a denial and a struggle to fight death, just as Poe refused to realize how serious Virginia\'s condition was.
Virginia\'s condition went up and down, and with it Poe\'s spirits. He tried to help her the best he could, and in search for a healthy environment they moved a couple of times in the spring of 1842. Poe suffered badly from seeing Virginia so weak and he turned to drinking again. Some people said he drank huge amounts while others, including Poe himself, said that he was intolerant to alcohol and a single drink intoxicated him. The truth is probably a combination of both, he got drunk after just one glass and simply couldn\'t stop drinking. Regardless of the amount it is no doubt that it was more than he could take, and it cost him a lot of money. Money he didn\'t have.
Thomas once again offered his help to get Poe a job, now in the Custom House in Philadelphia. Poe missed a couple of appointments with Thomas because he was too drunk, and several misunderstandings and broken promises from politicians made everything lead to nothing. So Poe went to Washington, both to speak with the president\'s son and to get subscribers for The Penn which he now called The Stylus. His abuse of alcohol, probably caused by \"a great deal of heartache\" made him make a fool of himself, hence he had no success in either getting the job nor getting the Stylus published.
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