Summary

Eliza vividly recalls an evening in 1834 during which William was visited at the Kensal Lodge by a number of his friends and fellow literary luminaries. The gentlemen—including John Forster, Charles Dickens, R.H. Horne, George Cruikshank, and others—spoke garrulously on the topic of writing and literature, often complaining at the fleeting nature of life as a creative individual. They dismissed Eliza routinely even as they demanded that she continue returning and supplying them with more drink. Eliza recalls being particularly put off by George Cruikshank, one of William’s illustrators, going so far as to make a quip to him that prompted William to discipline her.

In the middle of that dinner, Eliza absconded upstairs to where William’s three daughters were listening to the conversations and explained to them that she did not care much for the men in the...