ad appeared in The Dark Blue.

Having brought these biographical and critical notes to the point at
which they overlap the personal recollections that form the body of this
volume, it only remains to say that during the years in which the poems
just reviewed were being written Rossetti was living at his house in
Chelsea a life of unbroken retirement. At this time, however (1877-81),
his seclusion was not so complete as it had been when he used to see
scarcely any one but Mr. Watts and his own family, with an occasional
visit from Lord and Lady Mount Temple, Mrs. Sumner, etc. Once weekly he
was now visited by his brother William, twice weekly by his attached
and gifted friend Frederick J. Shields, occasionally by his old friends
William Bell Scott and Ford Madox Brown. For the rest, he rarely if
ever left the precincts of his home. It was a placid and undisturbed
existence such as he loved. Health too (except for one serious attack
in 1877), was good with him, and his energies were, as we have seen, at
their best.

His personal amiability was, perhaps, never more conspicuous than
in these tranquil years; yet this was the very time when paragraphs
injurious to his character found their way into certain journals. Among
the numerous stories illustrative of his alleged barbarity of manners
was the one which has often been repeated both in conversation and in
print to the effect that H.E.H. the Princess Louise was rudely repulsed
from his door. Rossetti was certainly not easy to approach, but the
geniality of his personal bearing towards those who had commands upon
his esteem was always unfailing, and knowledge of this fact must
have been enough to give the lie to the injurious calumny just named.
Nevertheless, Rossetti, who was deeply moved by the imputation, thought
it necessary to contradict it emphatically, and as the letter in which
he did this is a thoroughly outspoken and manly one, and touches an
important point in his character, I reprint it in this place:

16 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, S.W., December 28, 1878.

My attention has been directed to the following paragraph
which has appeared in the newspapers:--"A very disagreeable
story is told about a neighbour of Mr. Whistler's, whose
works are not exhibited to the vulgar herd; the Princess
Louise in her zeal, therefore, graciously sought them at the
artist's studio, but was rebuffed by a 'Not at home' and an
intimation that he w