Page show how greatly he enjoyed and profited from this correspondence.
But after the sinking of the _Lusitania_ and the _Arabic_ his attitude
toward Page and his letters changed.

He now found little pleasure or satisfaction in the Page communications.
When Mr. Wilson found that one of his former confidants had turned out
to be a critic, that man instantaneously passed out of his life. And
this was now Page's fate; the friendship and associations of forty years
were as though they had never been. Just why Mr. Wilson did not recall
his Ambassador is a question that has puzzled Page's friends. He would
sometimes refer to him as a man who was "more British than the British,"
as one who had been taken completely captive by British blandishments,
but he never came to the point of dismissing him. Perhaps he did not
care to face the public scandal that such an act would have caused; but
a more plausible reason is that Page, despite the causes which he had
given for irritation, was indispensable to him. Page's early letters had
furnished the President ideas which had taken shape in Wilson's
policies, and, disagreeable as the communications now became, there are
evidences that they influenced the solitary statesman in the White
House, and that they had much to do in finally forcing Mr. Wilson into
the war. The alternative question, as to why Page did not retire when he
found himself so out of sympathy with the President, will be
sufficiently answered in subsequent chapters; at present it may be said
that he did resign and only consented to remain at the urgent request of
Washington. In fact, all during 1915 and 1916, there seemed to be a fear
in Washington that Page would definitely abandon the London post. On one
occasion, when the newspapers published rumours to this effect, Page
received an urgent despatch from Mr. Lansing. The message came at a
time--the date was October 26, 1915--when Page was especially
discouraged over the Washington policy. "Representatives of the press,"