Wells was born in 1866 and died in 1946. Because of his journalistic talent, his experiments in science fiction, and his longer life, he is far better known in our time than Gissing. But near the end of 1884, largely because of his new acquaintance with Mrs. Gaussen, he found himself meeting a steady stream of upper-class people at the parties he attended. Visits to tailor of late for dress suits, etc. A party the other night in Devonshire Street, Portland Place, and now again a private concert in Kensington Gardens Square tomorrow night.
Work goes on in spite of it.
It is very likely that such a letter echoing similar phrasing was received by Gissing's friend, Bertz. However, Bertz destroyed many of the early letters which seemed to him entirely too personal. The letters were collected and published by Arthur C. Young in 1961. The comment seems based on Gissing's assessment of Mrs. Gaussen. Most of the women of the world are too busy, too caught up in the life around them, to relax with a book.