In 1900 she had to undergo a serious operation, most skilfully performed by Professor Colzi of Florence. This, though successful for the time, seems to have left a legacy of evil, and in 1902 a further operation became necessary. She continued her work, however, bravely once more, writing on literary and artistic subjects with unfailing zest, and in June, 1904, seemed to her friends to have completely recovered her health and strength. But the final blow fell swiftly. In July illness seized her again, and carried her off in the December following, after terrible sufferings borne with a fortitude which one can hardly call other than heroic. No thanks can be adequate for the care and kindness of her friend Dr. Oscar Marchetti, who could not have done more for her had she been his own sister; nor for the whole-hearted devotion of her maid Paolina. She was followed by a distinguished company of friends, fellow-professors, and artists, to the Protestant cemetery of the Allori, about a mile and a half outside the Porta Romana—a peaceful enclosure, with its solemn cypresses and weeping ashes, set like an island amid the sunny olive-clad hills she loved so well. Here, at the foot of an avenue of cypresses, she was laid to rest; and thus the sentiment of the prose-poem given in this volume seems to cling about her to the end. Her command of Italian and knowledge of the literature were extraordinary; and in fact she was often taken during later years for an Italian, on one occasion asking a friend rather ruefully if it were true that she spoke English with an accent: and, by living with Italians of all classes, she obtained an understanding of their habits of thought and more intimate life that few foreigners possess. French and German, too, were at command, as well as Latin, and to a less extent Greek; one of her most valuable works being a study of the character of Virgil’s Dido, especially interesting as being from a woman’s point of view. It is much to be regretted that this cannot now be traced, or it would have been included here. She undertook for Senatore Domenico Comparetti the translation into English of his “_Traditional Poetry of the Finns_” (1898), and had many an interesting discussion with him as to the manner of its English presentment. At first he was rather inclined to resent her vigorous pruning of his elaborate periods, though in the end he saw that, though admissible in Italian, they were impossible in English. Indeed a few months ago he said with picturesque Italian politeness that he had come to prefer the translation to the original. This translation, with a preface by Mr. Andrew Lang, was published by Messrs. Longmans in 1898. For about ten years she was Florence correspondent to The Studio, her chief contributions being _Pietro Fragiacomo_ (Oct. 1899): and _Domenico Morelli_ (Nov. 1901). These articles she wrote, as was always her custom, under her maiden name.