Abbotsbury Castle <1>
9th April
My Dear Henry
What did you do in London about Hammersley <2> & the French Rentes? I see the Chamber of Deputies is going to pass the Law, & therefore I suppose no time should be lost – I did not like to employ Mr King to write to Hammersley about it, because as I don’t bank with them I can only expect them to take the trouble out of civility to you.
Lady Ilchester <3> sent you a pressing invitation to come down here with William, <4> & was quite disappointed to see him arrive without you, but it seems he did not think it worth while to tell you of it because he says he knew you would not come. I am limited in my stay in Dorset by the People at the Marble Works, who are to be at Laycock next Week
Affly yrs
E. F
Ly I. was anxious you should see her flowers, but the garden <has been?> <5> sadly ma<illegible> <by a?> frost
Constance <6> will tell you how to direct to you me
Henry
Notes:
1. Abbotsbury, Dorset: home of William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways.
2. Hammersley & Company, bankers, London.
3. Juliana Maria Strangways, née Digby (d. 1842).
4. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat.
5. Text obscured by seal.
6. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811–1880), WHFT’s wife.