Lady
Burton had sanctioned this expenditure because she wished, as she
said, to give her husband every comfort during his declining days.
Moreover, Burton had looked forward to _The Scented Garden_ to
replenish his exchequer. Now Lady Burton found herself face to
face with these facts: the whole of the money of _The Arabian Nights_
was gone, her husband's salary was gone, _The Scented Garden_ was
gone, and there was nothing left for her but a tiny patrimony. It was
therefore necessary that she should rouse herself to a sense of the
position. She did so without delay. She determined as far as possible
to carry out the plans which she and her husband had made when they were
looking forward to his retirement to leave Trieste, to return to London,
take a little flat, and occupy herself with literary work. It was a
sore pang to her to give up the beautiful home on which she had expended
so much care and taste, and to part with her kind friends at Trieste,
many of whom she had known for eighteen years. At Trieste she was a
personage. Every one knew her and loved her. She knew well enough that
when she came back to London after such a long absence, except by a few
faithful friends, she might be forgotten and overlooked in the rush and
hurry of modern life. Nevertheless her course was plain; she had but one
desire; that was to get away from Trieste as quickly as might be, take
her husband's remains with her, and lay them to rest in English soil, a
rest which she hoped to share with him before long.
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