Lacock Abbey
Friday Oct 5.
My dear Henry
Our Sisters <1> are not yet suited with a Servant & therefore they will gladly receive further particulars respecting John Dale. – They wish to know whether he undertakes to clothe himself for 35 guineas – for they do not consider 35g. too high, provided there is nothing else required. – The only striking objection that presents itself at first, is the circumstance of his having once filled the Situation of butler. – for servants are apt to be discontented & uneasy in a lower capacity where they are obliged again to submit to the superintendance [sic] of a housekeeper. Of course a single servant has a great deal of his time & arrangement of his work &c under his private control – but he must not be above receiving instructions from the housekeeper as the representative of his Mistresses. Marian says that if he has never been taken what they call a single handed place in a small family, he would not suit, because without experience in this kind of service, a man is ignorant of its duties & is sure to leave the family in a fit of disappointment. Another thing they are afraid he might do which is to accept their place now, with the intention of leaving it in the Spring when situat[ions]<2> are more easily obtained – & this of course would not please them. – Marian adds ‘if he happened to be going to see his friends in Monmouthshire & we could see him on his way, we cd judge whether he is the kind of person for us” – you know that in such a case the direction to be given to him wd be 12 Brock[illegible] I hope you have recd your books wh were sent per van on Tuesday, & that Lady Elisabeth <3> has got the parcel which Mary Mucklestone <4> undertook to convey to her. – She ought to have it this morning – We glad to learn from Caroline <5> that your Mother is almost quite well again – I had the pleasure of imparting this good news to Lady Mary <6> when she breakfasted with me this morning. – She staid nearly an hour & ½ which I thought very handsome, considering she was in a hurry to reach Bath, where she had her carriage to mend & various things to do before proceeding to sleep at Clifton <7> – She walked all round the garden & gathered a few seeds – but alas! the flowers looked sadly dismal after last night’s frost Mlle Amélina <8> who has been out late r in the day tells me that they have recovered themselves a little & are raising their heads – Mlle A. is pretty quiet at present in regard to her movements, & much obliged by your kind message & wish that she shd remain till after your return. – Do you think I need scruple about leaving her alone for 2 days & 1 night next week? – for my Sisters are very desirous of my joining them when they go to see Mr Beckford’s Tower & house, <9> for which they rather expect to procure an order next week – & as I want to go to Bath some day & see them & do one<10> things – it seems as if I might easily combine the or rather the 3. – She is nervous & fanciful & gets up at night sometimes in search of robbers, when she hears the slightest sound, but I think that by getting Humphries <11> to sleep in the house for that one night, there can be no real cause for alarm. – Will you tear off the following flap – & give it to Lady Elisabeth wh will save you the trouble of a message – I am quite pleased with what you have done about the Carriage – as there is so much more to be said in favour of the purchase then [sic] against it – Humphries has gravelled the walk in the Orchard – I have just been receiving Mrs Hennage[?], & her Sister Mrs Stanley – & a whole invasion of Rookes –<12> & am tired –
Your very affate
Constance
Henry Fox Talbot Esqre
31 Sackville Street
London
Notes:
1. Laura Mundy (1805– 1 September 1842); Emily Mundy (1807– 5 November 1839); Marian Gilder, née Mundy (1806 – 14 October 1860); m. 6 August 1844 William Troward Gilder (d. 1871), Army Surgeon (ret).; WHFT’s sisters-in-law.
2. Written off edge of page.
3. Lady Elisabeth Theresa Feilding, née Fox Strangways, first m Talbot (1773–1846), WHFT’s mother.
4. Cook.
5. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808–1881); WHFT’s half-sister.
6. Lady Mary Lucy Cole, née Strangways, first m. Talbot (1776–1855), WHFT’s aunt.
7. Clifton, Bristol, on the Avon Gorge.
8. Amélina Petit De Billier, ‘Mamie’, ‘Amandier’ (1798–1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal].
9. William Beckford (1759–1844). [See Doc. No: 02428].
10. Text torn away under seal.
11. John Humphries, gardener at Lacock Abbey in the early 1840’s.
12. Capt Frederick William Rooke (1782-1855), of nearby Lackham House, his 2nd wife, Harriet, née Hyde; he had seven children by his first wife.