Saturday 11th Novr
My Dear Henry
We came up by a very fast Train, I never stopped so seldom At the Station at Paddington we found my Clarence<1> in waiting, immediately stepped into it & set Constance <2> down in Wimpole Street. It was a thick fog as soon as we approached London. I enclose you some Verses Sent out of the Morning Post, as I don’t think the Globe <3> deals in any thing but dry details. I believe we shall leave town Wednesday, I may almost say certainly tho’ that is at all times a rash word. Shall I take you down any card paper as here there is choice
affly yrs
E F
Notes:
1. Lady Elisabeth's carriage was in high fashion, having just been introduced to London society around 1840. The Clarence (sometimes a Growler) was a more comodious form of the Brougham. Horse-drawn with four wheels, it seated four passengers in a glass-enclosed compartment, with a driver outside in front. It was named after King William IV, who was Duke of Clarence and St Andrews.
2. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811–1880), WHFT’s wife.
3. The enclosure is now missing. The Morning Post and The Globe were London newspapers.