Laycock Abbey
3d December
My Dear Henry
I am rather surprized I have not had un petit mot <1> from you to day & think perhaps you have forgot & directed it to Bowood. <2> I imagine I could be of use to you about those grates & if you think so I can go up easily to town on Monday if you write me an Answer by return of post –
I remember distinctly that Moser <3> told me in his Shop the price was £5 and your Uncle <4> writes me word he paid £16 for each of them – This requires explanation. I cannot go to Melbury <5> till the 9th as he is at Redlynch <6> till then so I may dispose of my time if you think it worth while, which I always think it is to be permanently comfortable a fixture like a grate (above all things) affects one’s intrinsic bien être.
answer answer
answer
I have half a mind to send Horatia’s <7> letter to divert you
Notes:
1. A little word.
2. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
3. See Doc. No: 04372.
4. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat.
5. Melbury, Dorset: one of the Fox Strangways family homes; WHFT was born there.
6. Redlynch, Somerset, seat of the Earls of Ilchester (Barons of Redlynch).
7. Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810–1851), WHFT’s half-sister. [For her letter see Doc. No: 04378].