Tuesday
My Dear Henry
You have cooled my ardour, & therefore the Paper shall wait till I am going to Brighton, where I long to be whenever it is muggy. That 3 weeks at Melbury <1> almost killed me with mug but now it is bright frosty sunshine & a clear North east wind that is quite reviving. The two Louisas <2> are just departed, the only drawback to their present happiness is that Lord Lansdowne <3> will insist on his grandson’s being called Lord Fitzmaurice instead of Lord Clanmorris, a degree of blind obstinacy which is quite inconceivable in a man of taste. Such wailings as there are about it, both there & here!! Horatia <4> is going tomorrow to Bowood <5> to stay till Monday & give advice about the trousseau, She being a young lady who is supposed to have improved her ideas at Paris. I hope you read the last Examiner at the Athenæum <6> where I conclude they take it, it is very good indeed. Look at the following plan & tell me if you have no objection, Mr Awdry thinks there is not any – It is to fill up the ditch in order to widen the walk which is at present so narrow & the ditch so deep it is difficult to get along without tumbling in. This is the time of year to do these sort of jobs – I am afraid you won’t understand the map I send
Notes:
1. Melbury, Dorset: one of the Fox Strangways family homes; WHFT was born there.
2. Louisa Howard, née Fitzmaurice (d. 1906), daughter of Lady Louisa Emma Fitzmaurice; and Louisa Emma Petty Fitzmaurice, née Fox Strangways, Marchioness of Lansdowne (1785-1851), wife of Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne; Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, 1837-1838; WHFT's aunt.
3. Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780–1863), MP, WHFT’s uncle.
4. Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810–1851), WHFT’s half-sister.
5. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
6. Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, London: WHFT’s club; a gentleman’s club composed primarily of artists and scientists.