According to the autobiography, the principal aid she received at this stage of her life was from other actors. Dressing as a man could of course be explained as one way to avoid being recognised by her many creditors, but it was also clearly Charke's preference. While trying to raise money from friends, she was arrested for debt and imprisoned. According to her in an intriguiging passage of her "Autobiography," it was the coffee-house keepers and prostitutes of Covent Garden who banded together to raise the money for her bail, and these women, knowing her well, jokingly referred to her as "Master Charles" as if she were a young gentleman.