Note 408 — Chapter XV · : WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY

Thackeray writes to Mr. Brookfield, in October 1848, as follows:—‘Old Dilke of the Athenæum vows that Procter and his wife, between them, wrote Jane Eyre; and when I protest ignorance, says, “Pooh! you know who wrote it—you are the deepest rogue in England, etc.” I wonder whether it can be true? It is just possible. And then what a singular circumstance is the + fire of the two dedications’ [Jane Eyre to Thackeray, Vanity Fair to Barry Cornwall].—A Collection of Letters to W. M. Thackeray, 1847-1855. Smith and Elder.