A complete transformation seemed to have place in my life overnight. It was quite staggering, and thenceforward visitors and invitations continued to pour in daily until they became a source of grievance to our landlady, who was obliged to engage an extra servant to respond to the battering of powdered footmen on her humble and somewhat flimsy door.

I felt weary of the responsibility of owning houses and was glad enough to pass mine on to others.

Why in the world would anyone want to photograph an old woman like me?

It was so kind of you to mention that I don't wear stays. What's the point? If you squeeze it in at one point, it only comes out at the other.

I am a grandmother now, and that means age is creeping on, creeping on.

I do not regret one moment of my life.

My agent tells me I am drawing the largest salary ever paid in the halls of England. Wonderful, isn't it? for a quiet, rural gardener like myself.