Lacock
14 July 1842
My Dear Mother
You must not suppose there is anything the matter with me, only some days I feel perfectly well & so éveillé <1> that I cannot compose myself to sleep at night, then the next day I feel extremely tired in consequence, & that is all.
I well know the remedy for this, it is mountain air and exercise –
There are so many new houses at Tunbridge Wells, all round Calverley Park &c. that I am sure there must be plenty of choice, altho’ it is the season.
I had a long & interesting letter from Mlle Amélina <2> the other day.
The Lansdowne’s <3> [sic] cannot choose a better tour than Ischl & Gastein.
I must ask either Ly L. or Sir Chas <4> to take a little packet to Martius<5>
Yr affte
Henry
Return Caroline’s <6> letter to me.
Notes:
1. Wide awake.
2. Amélina Petit De Billier, ‘Mamie’, ‘Amandier’ (1798–1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal].
3. Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780–1863), MP, WHFT’s uncle; and his wife, Louisa Emma Petty Fitzmaurice, née Fox Strangways, Marchioness of Lansdowne (1785-1851), Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, 1837-1838, WHFT's aunt.
4. Sir Charles Lemon (1784–1868), politician & scientist; WHFT’s uncle.
5. Dr Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1794-1868), German botanist.
6. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808–1881); WHFT’s half-sister.