The verses, as commentators decided, showed such genuine feeling, that the story narrated in them must have been authentic, and one of his own correspondents (Caryll) begged him for an explanation of the facts.

Pope gave no answer, but left a posthumous note to an edition of his letters calculated, perhaps intended, to mystify future inquirers.

The lady, a Mrs.Weston, to whom the note pointed, did not die till 1724, and could therefore not have committed suicide in 1717.

The mystification was childish enough, though if Pope had committed no worse crime of the kind, one would not consider him to be a very grievous offender.

The inquiries of Mr.Dilke, who cleared up this puzzle, show that there were in fact two ladies, Mrs.Weston and a Mrs.Cope, known to Pope about this time, both of whom suffered under some domestic persecution.