good at it, because she is conceited that she do well already, though I think no such thing." Samuel's affection towards Elisabeth can be seen prominently in letters during her severe typhoid fever and after her death, as he apologises to fellow politicians and naval captains for not attending board meetings for four weeks after the death and not keeping up to date with letters during her illness: "CAPTAIN ELLIOT, I beg you earnestly to believe that nothing but the sorrow and distraction I have been in by the death of my wife, increased by the suddenness with which it pleased God to surprise me therewith, after a voyage so full of health and content, could have forced me to so long a neglect of my private concernments." Following Elisabeth’s death, Samuel’s continuing affection towards her has been suggested through his succeeding relationship with Mary Skinner and his decision to not marry her, even though, as evidenced in his letters to John Evelyn, she acted as his wife in all but name. Similarly, when he died in 1703, regardless of his long-term relationship with Mary Skinner, on his own orders Pepys was laid to rest next to his wife. In popular culture In 1991, Dale Spender published a fictional literary spoof, The Diary of Elizabeth Pepys (1991 Grafton Books, London). Purportedly written by Elisabeth, the book is a feminist critique of women's lives in Restoration London. References External links There are also two encyclopaedic sites about Samuel Pepys, including information on his wife: Mentions of Elisabeth Pepys in Samuel Pepys's diary entries. Duncan Grey's pages on Pepys 1640 births 1669 deaths English people of French descent People from Bideford 17th-century English people Deaths from typhoid fever Elisabeth Huguenots