She was educated in Paris and at Aschaffenburg in Germany, where she acquired a knowledge of French, German, and Italian.
In Germany she became a Roman Catholic convert, and was received into the Catholic Church by Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler, then Bishop of Mainz.
On her return to England, she was encouraged as a historian by Jesuit contacts.
Her Cardinal Pole, begun for the St. Nicholas Series, was interrupted by her death.
She was a frequent contributor to periodicals including the Dublin Review, The Month, Blackwood's Magazine, and Cornhill Magazine, and contributed several articles to the Catholic Encyclopedia.