Belle vue ^<1>
April 4^th 1836 –

Dearest Henry

I have two dear letters ^<2> to thank you for – the first written on Thursday the other yesterday, & both of them have reached me quite nice & quick. – Is this in consequence of any remonstrance of yours at the Post office? – The basket too arrived safely with a written intimation of the carriage having been paid. – I am quite glad that that arrangement was made, otherwise my Sisters ^<3> would have insisted upon paying it themselves. Emily & I have been to Page’s ^<4> this morning & saw a beautiful Nemophila insignis – & the new Dahtura just come into bloom – it has a new name the termination of which only I recollect – urgmansia – It is yellow & I think not handsomer than the other more common kinds, but M^r Page prizes it very highly according to the report of his foreman – M^r Page himself was not at home, but the foreman was particularly civil & made a memorandum of your wishes – He enquired whether Fitzsimmons ^<5> had left you, & from that & his broad Scotch accent I concluded he must be a friend of his – A list of herbaceous plants will be sent to me here with your bill in the course of a day or two –

[illegible deletion] Do not entertain any hopes of enticing M^r Brown to Lacock in the capacity of Curate – the stipend would scarcely be sufficient for himself his wife & children to live upon – but probably a still greater obstacle will arise from his removal to a living near Chichester – to which our friend the Dean ^<6> is about to present him. – M^r Brown is going to Chichester tomorrow to meet the Dean & if he likes the aspect of affairs when on the spot, the negociation will be concluded at once. My Father ^<7> has the satisfaction of feeling that he was the accidental means of introducing him to the Dean’s notice, by speaking in his praise to the Dean when he saw him lately in London – While Emily & I were out walking M^r & M^rs Brown called upon my Sisters & asked to see Ela. ^<8> – Luckily she was not actually gone to sleep though just preparing for it; & she suffered herself to be dressed, & came down stairs mo to see them with the most perfect good humour – M^rs Brown admired her very much & understood how to appreciate her charms having three children of her own & none of them very pretty – I am thinking how pleased you will be to have her with again [sic] – she is twice as engaging as when you knew her – Sometimes she sits upon the floor amusing herself with her playthings quite happily, though without receiving much notice – which is what I like to see, because it bespeaks a contented disposition. –

Is Lady Lansdowne ^<9> come to Bowood ^<10> for Easter? – if she is I wish you would send to en or write to enquire after her health, for I read in the newspaper that she had put off one of her parties in consequence of indisposition.

I wish with you that we knew how the travellers ^<11> had got through the mountains, but I do not feel disposed to think more seriously of their difficulties in consequence of the snow which fal fell here on Friday. – The differe[nce]^<12> in temperature would I suppose convert into snow all the contents of the clouds which here fall in the form of rain – & of that we have had enough for a long time past to stop up all such narrow defiles as you describe. –

I perceive that I must bring my letter to a hasty conclusion as it is almost dinner time – Take good care of your precious self & do not forget to tell me when you leave Lacock – I am quite sorry you cannot find time for Abbotsbury ^<13> – how long do you require for setting your things in order in Sackville S^t? ^<14> –

Your very affectionate
Constance –

Marian is not quite so well as she ought to be but it is not surprising that she should suffer from all the trouble she has undergone – She has had frequent head aches lately added to her other ailments. –

Henry Fox Talbot Esq^re
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham

---

Notes:

1. Belle vue house, a private residence in Southampton.

2. Not located.

3. Laura Mundy (1805– 1 September 1842); Emily Mundy (1807– 5 November 1839); 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.

4. Nurseryman.

5. Cornelius Fitzsimmons, Scottish gardener at Lacock Abbey.

6. The Very Rev George Chandler, Dean of Chichester from 1830 until his death in 1859. He had presided over Constance's wedding to WHFT in December 1832.

7. Francis Mundy (1771–1837), politician and father of Constance Talbot.

8. Ela Theresa Talbot (1835–1893), WHFT’s 1^st daughter.

9. Louisa Emma Petty Fitzmaurice, née Fox Strangways, Marchioness of Lansdowne (1785-1851), wife of Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3^rd Marquess of Lansdowne; Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, 1837-1838; WHFT's aunt.

10. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.

11. Rear Admiral Charles Feilding (1780–1837), Royal Navy; WHFT’s step-father, and Lady Elisabeth Theresa Feilding, née Fox Strangways, first m Talbot (1773–1846), WHFT’s mother.

12. Text torn away under seal.

13. Abbotsbury, Dorset: home of William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways.

14. 31 Sackville Street, London residence of the Feildings, often used as a London base by WHFT.