Editing Ann Radcliffe (section)

=== Later life and death ===
After ''The Italian'' in 1797, Radcliffe ceased publishing and lived privately for the next 26 years.{{sfn|Norton|1999|p=3}} Her father died in 1798, leaving her some property near [[Leicester]].{{sfn|Rogers|1996|p=11}} Her mother died in 1800, leaving her the rest of the family's accumulated property; the rental income from her inheritance removed any financial need for Radcliffe to continue publishing.{{sfn|Rogers|1996|pp=11–12}} Radcliffe and her husband lived comfortably, travelling domestically almost once a year from 1797 to 1811.{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} Some evidence suggests that the Radcliffes lived separately from 1812 to 1815, though the reason is unknown.<ref name=":5" /> As they aged in later years, the Radcliffes hired a carriage during the summer months to make trips to places near London.{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} Although she did not publish, Radcliffe continued to write.{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} She wrote poetry and another novel, ''[[Gaston de Blondeville]]'', which was published after her death. She suffered from [[asthma]], for which she received regular treatment.<ref name="Facer" />

Radcliffe's lack of interest in public life led to frequent rumours that she had gone insane as a result of her writing,<ref>{{Cite web |last= Norton |first=Rictor |url=http://rictornorton.co.uk/gothic/radcliff.htm |title=The Life of Ann Radcliffe |website=rictornorton.co.uk |access-date=13 December 2019}}</ref> lived in dramatic seclusion in [[Derbyshire]],<ref name=":3">{{cite magazine|url = https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.14225/page/n125/mode/2up |title= Mrs. Radcliffe|work=The New Monthly Magazine |date=1826 |volume= 16 |p= 115}}</ref> or died.{{Sfn|Norton|1999|p=204}} For example, a travel narrative published by [[Elizabeth Isabella Spence]] in 1809 claimed that Radcliffe lived in [[Haddon Hall]] "under the most direful influence of ... incurable melancholy."{{Sfn|Bobbitt|2020|pp=179-180}} These rumours were so popular that her posthumous biography included a statement from her physician that spoke about her mental condition in her later years.{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} ''[[The New Monthly Magazine]]'' also published a posthumous rebuttal from her husband, insisting that "she was to be seen, every Sunday, at [[St James's Church, Clerkenwell|St James's Church]]; almost every fine day in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]]; sometimes at the theatres, and very frequently at the Opera" and describing Radcliffe as "the rare union of the literary gentlewoman and the active housewife".<ref name=":3" />

In early 1823, Radcliffe went to [[Ramsgate]], where she caught a fatal chest infection. She died on 7 February 1823 at the age of 58 and was buried in a vault in the Chapel of Ease at St George's, [[Hanover Square, Westminster|Hanover Square]], London.{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} Although she had suffered from asthma for twelve years previously,<ref name="Facer" /> her modern biographer, [[Rictor Norton]], argues that she probably died of [[pneumonia]] caused by a bronchial infection, citing the description given by her physician, Dr. Scudamore, of how "a new inflammation seized the membranes of the brain".{{sfn|Norton|1999|p=243}} Her husband remarried in 1826 to their housekeeper Elizabeth, and died in 1830 in [[Versailles, Yvelines|Versailles]].<ref name=":5" />