She had earlier worked for American newspapers as a correspondent from Paris in 1875; in early 1887, she began a similar assignment in Milan, reporting on the premiere of Verdi's "Otello". Her columns were collected in book form as "Verdi: Milan, and Othello", published later that year and dedicated to Wilkie Collins: "When I left England for Italy, you said, 'Do write me all about Verdi, Milan, and the new opera "Othello".' I have taken you at your word; only the letters, like most feminine epistles, have stretched away into limitless pages, and from a few vagabond sheets have grown into a volume. I am sure you will never again ask a woman to write to you, even from Paradise; but in the mean time, here is the result of your amiability."