A 1946 retelling captures the recurring details of the story: The guests were assembled, and the wedding breakfast prepared. Eliza, clad in her bridal gown, awaited the arrival of the groom. He never came. She never heard from him again. When the guests had departed, Eliza pulled down the blinds of her house, and for 30 years remained a hermit. The front door was chained pemitting it to open only a few inches; callers never saw her, for when she was forced to speak to them, she remained out of sight. Here, for those long years, lived a woman in whom hope had died. When death at last came to Eliza, those who came to carry her to the greater peace of Camperdown Cemetery found her still clad in her bridal gown. Dust lay thick on the floor, and the window panes were thick with grime. And in the dining room, the wedding feast was uneaten, and the food had mouldered into dust.
