As soon as her husband's funeral
was over, she went back to his rooms, locked the door securely, and
examined carefully all his books and papers, burning those which
he had desired to be burnt, and sorting and classifying the others.
Among the manuscripts was Sir Richard's translation of the notorious
_Scented Garden, Men's Hearts to Gladden, of the Shaykh el Nafzawih_,
which he had been working at the day before his death, completed all
but one page, and the proceeds of which he had told his wife were to
form her jointure. As his original edition of _The Arabian Nights_
had brought in 10,000 pounds profit, the _Scented Garden_, beside which
_The Arabian Nights_ was a "baby tale," might reasonably have been
expected to have produced as much, if not more. Indeed, a few days
after Sir Richard's death, a man offered Lady Burton six thousand
guineas down for the manuscript as it stood, and told her that he
would relieve her of all risk and responsibility in the matter. She
might, therefore, easily have closed with this offer without any one
being the wiser, and if she had been inclined to drive a bargain,
she would doubtless have had no difficulty in securing double the
price. As her husband's death had reduced her to comparative poverty,
the temptation to an ordinary woman, even a good and conscientious
woman, would have been irresistible; she could have taken the money,
and have quieted her conscience with some of those sophistries which
we can all call to our aid on occasion.
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