The present portrait depicts the daughter of May Gaskell, society hostess and member of the 'Souls', an artistic and intellectual group in which Burne-Jones also circulated. Recently discovered correspondence reveals that the artist was in love with May, and Burne-Jones produced one of his most arresting portraits of another of May's daughters, Amy, unusually picturing her dressed in black (1898, Collection of Lord Lloyd-Webber). As well as his frequent correspondence with May, the artist wrote many affectionate letters to Daphne, who was six when she first met the artist, letters written phonetically and populated by sketches of birds and animals.