Lacock
9 Feby 1843
My Dear Mother
I shall certainly not be ready even to leave England so soon as the 20th of this month - Perhaps I must go to Paris to sign the Calotype Treaty, <1> but I shall not set out until the basis of the treaty is agreed upon - Then I shall probably have to stay 3 weeks in Paris, to set the thing a-going, for I am sure without my personal assistance they will make nothing of it. I cannot tell whether Constance <2> will be here in March and April, but she wants change of air and so does Matilda <3> and I think they ought to go to the seaside for a few weeks. Aunt Mary <4> is at Bowood <5> She looks very well, and is coming here next Saturday for a couple of days. We have lost very few trees in the late severe gales; the winter has been very mild, it is now colder. You heard I suppose of Mr Starkie's <6> death, and Mr Lawes <7> of Chippenham <8> died lately - I am sorry Paris does not amuse you, but at any rate it agrees with Horatia <9> very well - I have no time for more today, so adieu.
Your affte
Henry
I suppose you call the Duc de Bassano, <10> whom Mlle <11> calls the Marquis. If you like to give away all the Calotypes you have with you, I have no objection.
à Miladi
Miladi Feilding
Hotel Sinet
rue Faubourg S. Honoré
Paris
Notes:
1. See Doc. No: 04746.
2. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811-1880), WHFT's wife.
3. Matilda Caroline Gilchrist-Clark, 'Tilly', née Talbot (1839-1927), WHFT's 3rd daughter.
4. Lady Mary Lucy Cole, née Strangways, first m. Talbot (1776-1855), WHFT's aunt.
5. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
6. Probably Edward Andrew Starky of Spye Park, Bromham.
7. Probably Joseph Lawes, owner, Angel Inn, Chippenham.
8. Chippenham, Wiltshire: largest town near Lacock, 3 miles N.
9. Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810-1851), WHFT's half-sister.
10. Hugues Antoine Joseph Eugène Maret, Marquis de Bassano (1806-1889), photographic entrepreneur, Paris.
11. Amélina Petit De Billier, 'Mamie', 'Amandier' (1798-1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal].