“Sunday 9th. Breakfast at eleven—Worked at Browning matter till 5 (in bed). In evening Mona, and Mathilde came in and Frank Rinder, Ernest Rhys, etc. Wrote Young Folk’s Paper article. Read up till about 3 a.m.
10th. Worked six hours on end at Browning material. Between tea and dinner wrote Chap. 18 of Ordeal of Basil Hope; after dinner wrote Chap. 19. At 10 went up to Mona’s to fetch Lill. Egmont Hake there, W. Earl Hodgson and Miss Shedlock, Mathilde Blind.
11th. At British Museum all day, working at ‘Odes.’ (This selection of Odes in the Canterbury Poets.)
In evening wrote six p. p. of Browning.
12th. (1) In first part of day wrote 6 pages of Browning. (2) Short London Letter for G. H. From 5 to 8 I wrote Chap. 20 of Basil Hope. (4) After dinner (between 9 and 12.30) wrote 8 more pages of Browning (14 in all to-day).
13th. Wrote 12 pages of Browning and Chap. XXI of Basil Hope.
“February 14th.—In morning, late afternoon and evening (from 9-12) wrote in all 18 printed pages of Browning, or, including quotation, 21.”
Here the Diary abruptly ends. I do not recollect on what date the Browning was finished, but it was published in the early autumn. And I have no recollection as to what became of The Ordeal of Basil Hope, whether or not it ever appeared serially, but I think not. It never was issued in book form—and from the time we gave up the house in Goldhurst Terrace he never gave it a thought. It was characteristic of him that when a piece of work was finished or discarded, it passed wholly out of his mind, for his energies were always centred on his work on hand and on that projected.
He was a careful student of the progress of contemporary literatures—especially French (including Belgian) Italian and American—and during the spring and summer he wrote a long article on American literature for The National Review, an article on D’Annunzio for The Fortnightly. He also prepared a volume in English of selected Essays of St. Beuve for which he wrote a careful critical Preface.