Wednesday July 7 –
My dear Henry
I am very glad you are gone to Barmouth & I hope I shall soon hear what you think of the place & whether it will suit us. –
It is possible that Aunt Newton <1> may receive my sisters <2> as well as myself & the children on Monday next the 12th but if not perhaps I may go there on the following Friday 16th when Marian & Laura return to London – & Miss Cotton <3> holds herself in readiness to leave us as soon as our plans are fixed. – I will write to you a soon as I know about it positively – & whether Aunt Newton can receive us or not. – Miss Cotton went with me to Bath on Monday – & we had a perfect day for the expedition – on this occasion & the former we went through the Box tunnel & were not at all alarmed. – The only unpleasant thing attending this bit of the road is the frequent delay occasioned by the up trains waiting for the down trains & the down for the up – as they cannot pass each between Corsham <4> & Bath. – Marian & Laura intend to be much the better for coming to Lacock. –
We do set Porter <5> to work at other things besides the Drawings. He has made copies of all those you left out except one or two. – & the weather being so uncertain I did not set him to make more paper today, for I observe his paper does not keep well.
Your affectionate
Constance.
Notes:
1. Eleanor Newton, née Stephenson (1788-1880), wife of Sarah Leaper Newton's brother, Robert Newton Leaper-Newton (1775-1846).
2. Laura Mundy (1805–1842); Marian Gilder, née Mundy (1806 – 14 October 1860); m. 6 August 1844 William Troward Gilder (d. 1871), Army Surgeon (ret).; WHFT’s sisters-in-law.
3. A flower painter.
4. Corsham Court, Wiltshire, 3 mi NW of Lacock: seat of Ld Methuen.
5. Charles Porter (b. 1828), a servant at Lacock Abbey. He was the frequent subject of photographs and occasionally also photographic assistant.