This letter is apparently unpublished (not in the Pilgrim edition of The Letters), although several letters referring to Wills's election written in February and March 1865 are included. Despite writing several letters urging members to vote for his friend, Dickens' efforts were in vain and Wills' application was turned down on 25 February. Later that month, Dickens wrote to an unknown correspondent apologising for and retracting a statement made in the committee meeting. On 2 March he wrote to Wills regarding an anonymous letter he had received stating that the reason for the blackballing was not animosity towards Dickens himself but another reason entirely, and urges Wills to challenge Bell on the matter. This issue was evidently not resolved satisfactorily as both Dickens and Wilkie Collins resigned from the club on 9 March.