In 1866 she settled at Windsor to be near her sons, who were being educated at Eton. That year, her second cousin, Annie Louisa Walker, came to live with her as a companion-housekeeper. This was her home for the rest of her life. For more than thirty years she pursued a varied literary career, but continued to have personal troubles. The ambitions she cherished for her sons were unfulfilled. Cyril Francis, the elder, died in 1890, leaving a "Life of Alfred de Musset", incorporated in his mother's "Foreign Classics for English Readers". The younger, Francis (whom she called "Cecco"), collaborated with her in the "Victorian Age of English Literature" and won a position at the British Museum, but was rejected by Sir Andrew Clark, a famous physician. Cecco died in 1894. With the last of her children lost to her, she had but little further interest in life. Her health steadily declined, and she died at Wimbledon on 20 June 1897. She was buried in Eton beside her sons. She left a personal estate with gross value £4,932 and net value £804.