Mount Edgcumbe <1>
Septr 11th
My dear Henry
I had a letter from Mr Arber yesterday containing an offer of 600£ for the house from Mr Brown Solicitor of Essex St Strand. It seems they have a fancy for it as he & Mrs B. came twice up from Brighton to see it. The sum seems very low, judging by Arber’s own valuation wh ought to have been made lower than the real value but Wright <2> advises me to accept it to get rid of the rent & dilapidation &c There was a Mr Welshman before who offered 400– & then 500, but wd not go higher. Ld Mt E. <3> said he mistrusted Arber so much (from his dealing with him about Doner St) that he advised me to tell Wright to go himself to Mr Brown in Essex St or follow him to Brighton, to find out if those were his own proposals bona fide – & I am accordingly waiting for his report before I give a definitive answer. The thing is rather unusual – his wanting to include glass & crockery – & it would be very disagreeable to think that wd find its way into Mr A’s house as Milord had reason to think was the case with some of his goods, when he sold that house to Ld Gardner. <4> If I consent he says the things I keep must be cleared away &c by Michaelmas Day. Is there anything of yours left? I forgot to ask if you wd like to have all or part of the wine if I do not sell it with the house wh wd I suppose be the most advantageous way. Uncle H. <5> said he would take it off my hands if I wished but wd not give an out of the way price so Colman told Wright – I believe it is very good
Yr aff sister
Horatia
Notes:
1. Mt Edgecumbe, near Plymouth: seat of the Earl of Mt Edgcumbe.
2. James Wright, footman to the Talbots & Constable for Lacock.
3. Ernest Augustus Edgcumbe, Lord Valletort, 3rd Earl of Mt Edgcumbe (1797–1861), WHFT’s brother-in-law.
4. Possibly Alan Legge Gardner, 3rd Baron Gardner (1810–1883).
5. Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester (1787–1858).