Austrian birth, and, according to rumour, there was a flavour of
romance about her marriage. It was said that while the laws of certain
countries regarded her as married, those of other countries insisted
that she was still single. However, married or not, she concentrated
all her spleen on cab-drivers, and was continually hauling some luckless
driver or other before the London magistrates. Having a profound respect
for Burton's judgment, she often went to him about these cab disputes,
and, oddly enough, though nobody else could get at him, he was always at
the service of Mrs. Prodgers, and good-naturedly gave her the benefit
of his wisdom. [265] To the London magistrates the good lady was a
perpetual terror, and Frederick Burton, a diligent newspaper reader,
took a pleasure in following her experiences. "St. George," he would
call across the breakfast table, "Mrs. Giacometti Prodgers again: She's
had another cab-man up."

One evening, says a London contributor to the New York Tribune [266]
referring to this period, "there was a smoking party given by a
well-known Londoner. I went in late, and on my way upstairs, stumbled
against a man sitting on the stairs, with a book and pencil in his
hands, absorbed in his reading, and the notes he was making. It was
Burton. When I spoke to him he woke up as if from a dream with the dazed
air of one not quite sure where he is. I asked him what he was
reading. It proved to be Camoens, and he told me he was translating the
Portuguese poet. It seemed an odd place for such work, and I said as
much." "Oh," answered Burton, "I can read anywhere or write anywhere. And
I always carry Camoens about with me. You see, he is a little book, and
I have done most of my translating in these odd moments, or, as you say,
in this odd fashion." And he added, with a kind of cynical grin on his
face, 'You will find plenty of dull people in the rooms above.' He had
been bored and this was his refuge."

73. Jane Digby Again.

Report now arrived that Jane Digby was dead; and paragraphs derogatory
to her character appeared in the press. Mrs. Burton not only answered
them, but endeavoured to throw a halo over her friend's memory. She said
also that as she, Mrs. Burton, had Jane Digby's biography, nobody else
had any right to make remarks. Comically enough, news then came that
Jane was still alive. She had been detained in the desert by the
fighting of the tribes. Says Mrs. Burton, "her relatives att