Laycock Abbey
7th February
My Dearest Henry
I am very sorry to hear you have got the Influenza, as I know how bad it is, being now only convalescent. I hope you will submit to staying in bed at least one day, that seems to be the sine quâ non <1> of a cure, and by resisting I prolonged mine & was at last obliged to stay two days in bed dont je viens de me relever, <2> & am so weak I should not write to day if it was not to tell you of Kit & Ly Charlotte <3> whom I had not heard a word of since I saw you till this Morning, when I had a Letter from him saying they will be home on or about the 14th – This will suit you exactly.
He tells me Charlotte has had a dreadful fall from her horse, i.e. dreadful to see & very dangerous, but it ended in some bad bruises, though she had a narrow escape of her life. I am so thankful Horatia <4> has given up riding!
I am expecting Mary Talbot <5> in her way from Belgrave Square to Glamorganshire only for one day. It is a good sign of Jane <6> that she is well enough to be left. You know she was very ill.
Our Party came to nothing, Mr Vivian was <7> prevented by a fall from his horse somewhere near Bath, which he says cut him to pieces – Mrs & Miss Methuen (Mr <8> being in Town) were seized with the Influenza, Mr Moore <9> was in bed with the same, & Mrs Moore <10> staid to nurse him, and as it turned out I should have been too ill to receive them.
Mr Horseman <11> M.P. for Cockermouth (what an ignoble name!) seems to intend to make it famous by the best speech that has been heard for a long time. It was admired by all parties. Amandier <12> has determined to leave Lady Dundonald <13> – tho’ the pay w is very high the place w is too uncomfortable – & puis c’est une femme qui ne pense qu’à sa toilette & qui neglige sa fille, qui a dejà quinze ans passés. <14> Certainly A. is very unlucky, & has spent so much money in that long journey from Lancashire in the depth of winter. She has some prospect of being named Dame de Compagnie <15> to the Ex Queen of Naples, who is now at Paris but generally lives at Florence. You may remember what a fancy we took to Caroline of Naples, <16> la reine <17> Murat as they called her at Venice, and she was particularly civil to A. at that time. It is impossible to foresee how these things turn out, or whether desirable for her.
I see the King of the <Gypsies?> is just dead at 99! what a healthy Life is <sic> must be.
Wright <18> has had it very bad & was obliged to be moved to another room as it rained in through the Leads owing to incursions of Ivy creeping in for years past.
Henry Fox Talbot Esqr
Sidmouth
Devon
Notes:
1. The essential.
2. From which I have just got up.
3. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803–1890), immensely wealthy landowner, mathematician & politician; WHFT’s Welsh cousin, and his wife Lady Charlotte Talbot, née Butler.
4. Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810–1851), WHFT’s half-sister.
5. Mary Thereza Talbot (1795–1861), WHFT’s cousin.
6. Jane Harriot Nicholl, née Talbot (1796–1874).
7. Sir Richard Hussey Vivian (1775–1842), politician.
8. Jane Dorthea Methuen, née Mildmay (1789–1846), her husband Paul Methuen, Baron Methuen (1779–1849), MP, and their daughter.
9. Thomas Moore (1780–1852), Irish poet.
10. Elizabeth (Bessie) Moore, née Dyke (1783–1865), wife of the poet Thomas Moore.
11. The Hon Edward Horsman (d. 1876), Lord of the Treasury (1840–1841), sat for Cockermouth from 1836 until 1852, Chief Secretary for Ireland (1855–1857).
12. Amélina Petit De Billier, ‘Mamie’, ‘Amandier’ (1798–1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal ].
13. Katherine Frances Cochrane, née Corbett, Lady Dundonald.
14. And besides she’s a woman who thinks only of her appearances and who neglects her daughter, who is already more than fifteen years old.
15. Lady Companion.
16. Maria Annunciata Carolina Murat (1782–1839).
17. The Queen.
18. James Wright, footman to the Talbots & Constable for Lacock.