Lacock Abbey
Friday 29 –

My dear Henry

I hope you won’t give yourself the slightest trouble about Scheichelbach – as M^rs Nicholl ^<1> is not on the spot – & I find it was not this last winter that he was with them at Merthyrmawr ^<2> – no doubt they have lost sight of him – besides I have not the slightest fear about Antonio suiting us for the impending journey – Neither the one nor the other would remain as a permanent servant – so that Scheichelbach’s superiority is of very little consequence – I am sure you have no time to throw away so I strongly advise your engaging Antonio at once – How fine the weather has become! it makes me feel quite ready to pack up – Has Lady Elisabeth ^<3> fixed any time for her return? I have heard nothing more from them.

The Donkey has drawn the little carriage today – with Marian ^<4> & a portion of the children ^<5> to the entrance of Bowden park ^<6> – where we rambled about for some time – really we were almost overcome by the heat – And the birds, our Lacock birds, have been singing incessantly for several days –

Your affectionate
Constance –

D^r Brabant ^<7>is setting off soon for Germany & wishes very much to come over to Lacock & see you before he goes – and M^rs Moore has promised to let him know when you are likely to be at home.

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Notes:

1. Constance initially had difficulty with the spelling of the name of Mr. Scheichelbaur, a courier and travelling servant to various branches of the Talbot family in 1844 until at least 1863. Jane Harriot Nicholl, née Talbot (1796–1874).

2. Merthyr Mawr, Glamorgan, on River Ogwr.

3. Lady Elisabeth Theresa Feilding, née Fox Strangways, first m Talbot (1773–1846), WHFT’s mother.

4. Her sister, Marian Gilder, née Mundy (1806 – 14 October 1860); m. 6 August 1844 William Troward Gilder (d. 1871), Army Surgeon (ret).

5. Ela Theresa Talbot (25 Apr 1835 - 25 Apr 1893), WHFT's 1^st daughter; Rosamond Constance Talbot (16 Mar 1837 - 7 May 1906), 'Rose'; 'Monie'; artist & WHFT's 2^nd daughter; died & buried at San Remo, Italy, with a memorial at Lacock; Matilda Caroline Gilchrist-Clark, née Talbot (25 Feb 1839-1927), 'Tilly', WHFT's 3^rd daughter; Charles Henry Talbot, (2 Feb 1842 - 26 Dec 1916), 'Charlie'; 'Tally'; antiquary & WHFT's only son.

6. Bowden Park, Wiltshire, 1 mi SE of Lacock.

7. Dr Robert Herbert Brabant (1781-1866), of nearby Devizes, a close friend of the Talbot family. Fluent in German in Greek, he spent his life on an unfinished book intended to dispose of the supernatural element in religion. After his daughter's wedding in 1843, he is reported to have taken the virtue of Mary Ann Evans, the novelist better known as George Elliot, and may have been the model for Mr. Casaubon, the ineffectual scholar in her 1872 novel, Middlemarch.