M^t Edgcumbe ^<1>
July 4^th

My dear Henry

We have had a most delightful journey – the weather has been charming & the country all the way from Exeter a succession of hill & dale, beautifully wooded, & every where perfumed with honeysuckles growing in wild profusion – while the verdure of the meadows was most pleasingly relieved by the purple glow of innumerable Foxgloves & every variety of wild flower – I send you a specimen of Iris I never saw before & of Cotton Rush with which all the heaths are covered – is it the same that grew at Lauterbrunn? The Iris I found at Charmouth near the sea-shore –

I was charmed with Ivy Bridge ^<2> & sketched the very one (I imagine) where once upon a time you let all Mamma’s ^<3> paints & brushes drop into the stream. –

We arrived here early on Monday – the air was heavenly & the Sea of the most Italian blue – we immediately took a drive round the amphitheatre, a green valley surrounded by magnificent beech, oak, cedar & tulip trees, terminated by the sea – from thence we wandered through the flower gardens full of roses & orangetrees, and ornamented with statues, vases & fountains, & at last rested ourselves at the old Fort, watching the boats as they glided by, till the shades of evening gathered round us. –

I have a charming apartment – a very pretty dressing-room in an octogan [sic] turret, with windows on every side, & a charming little sitting room with a pianoforte & a variety of pictures – I wish you were all here, you would enjoy it so much, & I could drive Mamma in a pony chaise, made for L^d M^t E. ^<4> when he broke his leg, with wheels so broad that one can drive all over the garden & turf without injuring them – I always think of Mamma when I drive in it. – I have written to Uncle Harry ^<5> to beg he will come while the fine weather lasts – I hope he will bring Stavy & Ste, ^<6> they would be so well amused with Ronald Macdonald – he came here with L^d Alford ^<7> & they are both staying for a short time – Why should not you sail here in the Petrel? ^<8> at all events do come while it is fine weather – I am always so afraid of its slipping away in this uncertain climate. – We are going this morning to dine at Penlee point, where L^d V. has just build a Gothic seat, & made a new drive with plantations, & I am [to]^<9> have a little pépinière ^<10> of my own on [text missing] rock jutting out into the sea. –

You do not deserve such a long letter from me, as you never answered the first; but you wished t me to tell you my first impressions, & I think yours would be very nearly the same –

Addio caro fratello, ^<11> answer this & tell me when you are coming & if the Iris is rare – I wish you joy of Captⁿ Boldero’s ^<12> secession –

Y^r aff^te Sister
Caroline

Devonport July four 1832 Valletort
Henry Fox Talbot Esq^r
31 Sackville Street
London

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Notes:

1. Mt Edgecumbe, near Plymouth: seat of the Earl of Mt Edgcumbe

2. See Doc. No: 03281.

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

4. Richard Edgcumbe (1764–1839), 2^nd Earl of Mount-Edgcumbe.

5. Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 3^rd Earl of Ilchester (1787–1858).

6. Henry Thomas Leopold Fox Strangways, Lord Stavordale (1816–1837), and his brother Stephen (1817–48).

7. See Doc. No: 01994.

8. See Doc. No: 02371.

9. Text torn away under seal.

10. Nursery garden.

11. Good bye dear brother.

12. Col Henry George Boldero (d. 1873), Conservative politician; sat for Chippenham in 1831 and from 1835 until his resignation in 1859.