Came
Tuesday
My Dear Henry
We have been enveloped in Fog ever since we came here eight days ago till this morning, when the Sun shone out for the first time & proved to me that my room which I was persuaded had a South aspect, was really due North. It was not only a fog both dense & damp, but so dark that it was difficult to read the Newspaper at noon day. We go to Moreton <1> tomorrow & to Melbury <2> Friday & I feel quite sure the 22d will suit my brother perfectly, but will write again after I see him. I hope you will not put it off longer, for that would make your visit too short, if you return with me the 27th
I find the description of the christening <3> reached these parts via Bowood, <4> L. F. being in correspondence with C. S. & then it became diffused through Minterne & Moreton. Ign. pro mag. <5> Those who did not witness a thing always imagine it far beyond those who do – With this philosophical remark I shall conclude
Yrs Ever
Notes:
1. Moreton, Dorset: home of the Frampton family.
2. Melbury, Dorset: one of the Fox Strangways family homes; WHFT was born there.
3. The christening of Charles Henry Talbot (1842–1916), antiquary & WHFT’s only son.
4. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
5. ‘Ignorantes proponunt magis’, translated by Lady Elisabeth as ‘Those who did not witness a thing always imagine it far beyond those who do’.