It was as a governess living in Westminster that she wrote her first work, "Victoria", dedicated to the Duchess of Devonshire and published in 1786. On 17 October of the same year, she married William Rowson, a hardware merchant who came from a theatrical family as well as reportedly being a Royal Horse Guards trumpeter. In 1791 in London, as 'Mrs. Rowson', she published the novel for which she is best known, "Charlotte: A Tale of Truth", later reissued in America as "Charlotte Temple", where it became the new nation's first best-selling novel. This popular story of seduction and remorse has gone through more than 200 editions. The novel sparked much controversy, both over its content and whether it could actually be considered a novel due to its minimal number of pages.