English author, a daughter of Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy (1804–78), keeper of the Royal Records; began writing stories for publication at a very early age. Among her more important novels are A New Othello (1890); Glencairn; Only a Love Story; A Broken Faith; and her three American tales Hearts and Diamonds; The Love That He Passed By; and Love in Idleness. She wrote two volumes of American Reminiscences. In 1893 she published A Woman’s Loyalty.
