* * * * *
Henry Labouchere, who first met Whistler as a boy in Washington in the fifties, when he himself was an attaché of the British Legation, took the credit for bringing Whistler and his wife together. His story was denied by Mrs. Whistler's relatives, but is interesting enough to be recorded.
"I believe," wrote Mr. Labouchere in Truth, "I was responsible for his marriage to the widow of Mr. Godwin, the architect. She was a remarkably pretty woman and very agreeable, and both she and he were thorough Bohemians.
"I was dining with them and some others one evening at Earl's Court. They were obviously greatly attracted to each other, and in a vague sort of way they thought of marrying, so I took the matter in hand to bring things to a practical point.
"'Jimmy,' I said, 'will you marry Mrs. Godwin?'
"'Certainly.'
"'Mrs. Godwin,' I said, 'will you marry Jimmy?'
"'Certainly,' she replied.
"'When?' I asked.
"'Oh, some day,' said Whistler.