Rome
Thursday 10th April
My dear Henry
It is such ages since I have heard from any of you that I must beg you will write me a line at least to say how you all are. We were sadly shocked last Thursday by the alarming account of dear Aunt L. <1> sent by Caroline <2> – the last had been bad certainly, always speaking of her suffering such sever pain & getting gradually weaker – but still I was not prepared for any such sudden change, & had always looked forward to seeing her again on our return to England, tho’ fearing to find her dreadfully altered – next day there was a report fm a London paper in Galignani <3> but contradicted in another part of the same – we heard however again fm Car. & Sir C. <4> sent Same a letter fm Jem Howard <5> which did not leave the slightest hope of her recovery – & since that for some days we have been in suspense & expecting the worst – It is indeed most melancholy & after her wonderful recovery last year & leaving her as we did so well & like herself last Ocbr the change seems still harder to hear – The only consolation is to think she was so quiet & peaceful as they describe, perfectly resigned & free from pain & surrounded by all those she loved best Jane is very much grieved – but I think after her own children none can feel like one to whom she has always been so warmly affectionate & still more of late years when she thought I wanted it more – It seems to me that illness has been a very strange one & that the doctors understood very little about it – always calling it neuralgic which does not account for anything – & not being able to devise anything for her relief. – Kate Nicholl <6> has quite recovered the scarlet fever tho’ she is hardly out of quarantine yet fortunately none of the others have caught it. Mr Nicholl <7> is obliged to go to England for Parlt. I believe he sets off next week. Jane <8> has not decided where to spend the summer – she had thought of Frascati, but is [illegible deletion] now turning her mind to Varese wh I shd advise as being much healthier for all the rest & not bad for Lucy. <9> We have not had a very pleasant Spring as yet continual winds wh is unusual here, & very changeable – However the leaves are now coming out nicely & there have been profusions of anemones narcissus & cyclamens in the woods & fields this long time. I don’t think we shall go to Naples but probably linger on here till the beginning of May – & then proceed leisurely to England I feel great dislike to the idea of London this year, & wd willingly put off arriving there – but I suppose I ought not after begg of June
Tell me how many Talbotypes to bring you? He makes some now on a larger scale – very good I believe 2 Scudi.<10> Love to all pray write
Yr aff sister
Horatia
Henry Fox Talbot Esqre
Laycock Abbey
Chippenham
via di Mare Inghilterra
Notes:
1. 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.
2. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808–1881); WHFT’s half-sister.
3. Galignani’s Messenger, a newspaper that had a wide circulation among English residents on the Continent.
4. Probably Sir Charles Lemon (1784–1868), politician & scientist; WHFT’s uncle.
5. James Kenneth Howard (1814–1882), MP, husband of Lady Louisa Fitzmaurice.
6. Kate Nicholl, daughter of Jane Harriet Nicholl.
7. Dr John Nicholl (1797–1853), MP.
8. Jane Harriot Nicholl, née Talbot (1796–1874).
9. Lucy Mary Nicholl (1824-1876), of Merthyr Mawr.
10. These were by Count Frédéric A. Flachéron (1813-1883), French engraver and photographer. In the period of 1848-1853 he took calotype photographs on a large scale. Based at the Caffe Greco in Rome, he was part of a circle of active art photographers. See Doc. No: 06388.