She knew how to say nasty things herself, and as she said them wittily they were usually listened to and repeated.
Emily Fox-Seton had gone to her first to write notes for an hour every evening.

She had sent, declined, and accepted invitations, and put off charities and dull people.

She wrote a fine, dashing hand, and had a matter-of-fact intelligence and knowledge of things.

Lady Maria began to depend on her and to find that she could be sent on errands and depended on to do a number of things.

Consequently, she was often at South Audley Street, and once, when Lady Maria was suddenly taken ill and was horribly frightened about herself, Emily was such a comfort to her that she kept her for three weeks.
"The creature is so cheerful and perfectly free from vice that she's a relief," her ladyship said to her nephew afterward.