Frances Hodgson Burnett suffered a physical collapse that autumn. She returned to America, and in the winter of 1902 entered a sanatorium. There she told Townsend she would no longer live with him, and the marriage ended. She returned to Maytham two years later in June 1904. Maytham Hall had a series of walled gardens and in the rose garden she wrote several books; it was there she had the idea for "The Secret Garden", mainly written in Buile Hill Park while visiting Manchester. In 1905 "A Little Princess" was published, after she had reworked the play into a novel. Once again Burnett
Frances Hodgson Burnett frilly dresses for herself. She allowed her sons' hair to grow long, which she then shaped into long curls. After two years in Paris, the family intended to move to Washington, D.C., where Swan, now qualified as a doctor, wanted to start his medical practice. However they were in debt, so Frances was forced to live with Swan's parents in New Market while he established himself in D.C. Early in 1877 she was offered a contract to have "That Lass o' Lowrie's" published, which was doing well in its serialization, and at that point she made her husband her business