After her exile to King's Lynn, Anne, in her letters to Swift, enjoyed 'describing the rituals of provincial life and the mysterious figure that she cut there' (Nokes, 142).
In late 1711, by careful management of her £100 annuity and £60 rental from 'Newburg-house' in London, (Swift, Journal to Stella, 2.446) having almost paid her debts, Anne hoped to be able to leave King's Lynn.
When Swift arrived in London at the Vanhomrighs' house on 25 December, for Christmas dinner, he was told the news: 'I never was more afflicted at any death – She had all sorts of amiable qualities, and no ill ones but the indiscretion of neglecting her own affairs' (ibid., 2.445–6).
He also wrote to Thomas Pyle, the minister of St Nicholas's Chapel, at King's Lynn, revealing Anne's true identity and asking that she be buried in the church and that a memorial stone be placed there at Swift's own expense.
Swift wrote in his account book a private commemoration of Anne Long, which was perhaps his most eloquent appreciation of her: 'She was the most beautiful Person of the Age she lived in, of great Honr and Virtue, infinite Sweetness and Generosity of Temper and true good Sense'.