. George Meredith; his life and friends in relation to his work. ociations with virtuous queens to render it deeplyinteresting. It suffices that it is a perfect exampleof an early eighteenth-century house, and that herethe Rossettis, Meredith, and Swinburne lived to-gether in a quaint attempt at joint housekeepingand domestic intimacy which made no provision forthe eccentricities of genius and the clash of highlystrung nervous temperaments. And even in thosedays, fifty-five years antecedent to war work,servant difficulties were not unknown, for we findDante Rossetti (the managing director of t
. George Meredith; his life and friends in relation to his work. ociations with virtuous queens to render it deeplyinteresting. It suffices that it is a perfect exampleof an early eighteenth-century house, and that herethe Rossettis, Meredith, and Swinburne lived to-gether in a quaint attempt at joint housekeepingand domestic intimacy which made no provision forthe eccentricities of genius and the clash of highlystrung nervous temperaments. And even in thosedays, fifty-five years antecedent to war work,servant difficulties were not unknown, for we findDante Rossetti (the managing director of thequartet of two widowers and two bachelors) writingin January, 1863 : I have been a martyr to un-satisfactory servants here, and have been asking allmy friends if they know any desirable ones. Ourhousehold consists of four men, two of whom only,myself and Mr Swinburne, are at all constant in-mates. The younger brother, W. M. Rossetti, hasgiven some interesting details of the household andof the not altogether sympathetic atmosphere whichsoon settled over it :. The Back and Garden of i6 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea,as in d. g. rossettis time FroJtt a contemporary pkotog^i a/Ji in the possession oj lilr. Reginald Blitnt 16 CHEYNE WALK 151 For the Cheyne Walk house . . Rossetti wasto be the tenant, paying a rent (assuredly a verymoderate one) of £100 a year, besides—if I rememberright—a premium of £225 upon entry. As his sub-tenants for defined portions of the building therewere to be three persons—Mr Swinburne, GeorgeMeredith, and myself. Of course, each of us threewas to pay something to Dante ; though the latterdid not wish me, and in fact did not allow me, tocontinue any such payment after affairs had gotinto their regular course. We were all to dinetogether, if present together in the house. MrSwinburne was generally present, Mr Meredith muchless constantly, I came on three fixed days of theweek, but not on any others unless some particularoccasion arose. Swinburne, and I th
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