Henry Siddons soon quitted the stage, married a Miss Murray, daughter of an actor, and herself an actress, and in 1808 became manager of the Edinburgh Theatre. The death of her daughter Maria was the first serious grief Mrs. Siddons had known. We have touched on Lawrence the painter’s proposal to her, and the transference of his affection, after a short engagement, to her sister Sarah. Mrs. Siddons did everything she could to soften the blow to the poor deserted girl. We find her writing in desperation to her old friend Tate Wilkinson:— “My plans for the summer are so arranged that I have no chance of the pleasure of seeing you. The illness of my second daughter has deranged all schemes of pleasure as well as profit. I thank God she is better; but the nature of her constitution is such that it will be long ere we can reasonably banish the fear of an approaching consumption. It is dreadful to see an innocent, lovely young creature daily sinking under the languor of illness, which may terminate in death at last, in spite of the most vigilant tenderness. A parent’s misery under this distress you can more easily imagine than I can describe; but if you are the man I take you for, you will not refuse me a favour. It would, _indeed_, be a great comfort to us all, if you would allow our dear Patty to come to us on our return to town in the autumn, to stay with us a few months. I am sure it would do my poor Maria so much good, for the physician tells me she will require the same confinement and the same care the next winter; and let it not offend the pride of my good friend when I beg it to be understood that I wish to defray the expense of her journey. Do, dear soul, grant my request. Give my kind compliments to your family, my love to my own dear Patty, and accept yourself the best and most cordial wishes of “S. SIDDONS.” From this time until Mrs. Siddons’s death, Patty Wilkinson never left her house, and remained ever the intimate and beloved friend of her and her daughters. Maria was taken to Clifton at the doctor’s suggestion, while Mrs. Siddons went a provincial tour to make money enough to meet the heavy demands upon her purse. At last even the poor mother saw all efforts were unavailing, and when, on the 6th October 1798, the blow at last came, she met it with resignation and courage. To Mrs. Fitzhugh she wrote:—