The more important reference to Muriel Wilson in Randolph Churchill's biography of his father occurs in Volume I Youth 1874-1900 (1966), p. 394, where he says of Winston: "A few years after his return from India he contemplated marrying Miss Wilson, who was a considerable heiress, as well as being one of the great beauties of her age. She rejected him. Therefore he decided that he would never marry for money." The letters from Winston to Muriel now being offered for sale suggest that the date of the proposal was actually some years later than Randolph surmises, and their content, together with this generous letter of tribute from Clementine Churchill, provides strong evidence that Winston's interest in her was genuinely passionate, and not simply mercenary. One must be glad that, even though the two did not marry, they were able to maintain a lifelong friendship.