Mrs. Bishop included amongst her plans the use of her house in London as an invalid home. One of her first visitors, therefore, was a Derbyshire farmer, whom she persuaded during her residence at Ford Hall to become an out-patient at St. Mary's Hospital. When she returned to 44 Maida Vale, on February 2, it was to prepare for his arrival; and we find her staining and varnishing floors with her own hands, laying carpets and wax-cloth, hanging pictures, and engaging servants. One of the latter was the widow of her late caretaker, who died of apoplexy during her absence in Ireland. It was with this shadow on the very threshold, and with a persistent misgiving at her heart, that she set herself to live in London. A patient from the East-end occupied one of the bedrooms. She was still attending St. Mary's, taking lessons there in ambulance work, and at home she was occupied with her Irish notes.

She made Dr. Munro Gibson's acquaintance, and being greatly grieved at the incoming tide of ritualism in her own beloved church, she chose his ministry as the most helpful and congenial in her neighbourhood. She was constantly dining out, and passed few hours in solitude; but the sight of her husband's belongings—books, pictures, furniture—their constant reminder of his vanished presence, and something oppressive in the house and troublesome in its management, roused her regret that she had ever ventured upon the experiment.