A year after Sarah's illness, her sister Elizabeth, after being befriended by Lady Margaret Harley and introduced to the highest circles of London life, married the wealthy 50-year-old Edward Montagu, grandson of the Earl of Sandwich. Sarah stayed home to tend to her mother, who was dying of cancer. After her mother died in 1746, Sarah visited Elizabeth and Edward in Bath. She chose to stay and care for the invalid Lady Barbara Montagu, or Lady Bab, with whom she developed a very close friendship. In 1748, the two women combined their finances and set up house together.