Laycock Abbey
Sunday 30th
My dear Henry
I don't see why we need name any day absolutely till we hear what the Dean says - perhaps he maybe satisfied with the settlements as they are & then it would be no use putting it off at least I hope it will not be later than the 12th as then we could not have Ld Lansdowne <1> wh wd be a pity - I think if you have not packed up Stilwells <2> book I should like you to leave it with Caroline <3> & please to ask her for a key of mine she had got. Mr Gaisford <4> went away yesterday & does not propose coming again till Monday week. Perhaps his being at Oxford may tend to expedite matters.
I went to Bowood <5> Friday & found my Aunt <6> better but not very strong yet & coming back I called on poor Mrs Moore <7> - who was in great affliction but seemed pleased to see me
It was quite Siberian coming down Bowden Hill <8> by moonlight with an icy wind blowing.
Yr aff sister
Horatia
[envelope:]
Henry Fox Talbot Esqre.
Athenæum Club
London
Notes:
1. Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780-1863), MP, WHFT's uncle.
2. Possibly of Stilwell & Company.
3. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808-1881); WHFT's half-sister.
4. Capt Thomas Gaisford (1816-1898), JP, who would marry Horatia on 1 January 1850.
5. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
6. 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.
7. Elizabeth (Bessie) Moore, née Dyke (1783-1865), wife of the poet Thomas Moore.
8. Bowden Hill, Wiltshire, 1 mi SE of Lacock.