My dear Henry
Finding that I had time I sent my MS.<1> round by Emily (Dowr) Ly Suffield,<2> to whom I had promised to lend it before – & who I did not like to disappoint, as poor soul, she has been fretting so much over her scamp of a son Walter Harbord,<3> that I did not like to disappoint her of any little pleasure I could give her – it is so little I can do to please any one. She tells me she has sent it on straight to you, & now I write her remarks upon it, which are very gratifying. Only two criticisms, one that it should be Pss C. of Wales, in which she is quite wrong, as Harriot<4> had made me omit that – so as she has marked it in pencil on the first page, will you rub it out again?
The 2d has not been noticed by you or Ht, but she thinks for publication, She would leave out the prince giving up his bed to Mrs C., as considering his character she thought it would cause reflections, & I might hear remarks made upon it. I rather think she may have some sense in her remarks, & if you are of the same mind, & have not sent it off, will you scratch out decently for me, the words “giving up his own apartment to her, with a large bed of satin, on an estrade or step,” Then it will read very well “There all night, – nor would the Prince” &c<5> Should it be already gone we shall hear what the Editor says – it may be a hyper-criticism, but I have not the slightest objection to this little omission. She further says “you told me to find fault, which I can scarcely see or find,” (Then the criticism – “It is a charming Memoir, & I am very much obliged to you for sending it to me.”
I write this off directly in the hope that it may reach you before you send off the MS. & you will be glad to hear that though E Suffield is the hottest of the Queen’s partisans, not even seeing a fault in her bad Churchmanship, she makes no remark upon my now very innocent notice of the Monument, so that you may be quite happy as to its unobjectionable nature, & that no one even amongst those who differ from me, can take it in the light of painful reflections.
I haste to catch the early post.
Your affte cousin
Louisa Chtte Frampton
Lulworth Villa
St Mary Church
Torquay – Tuesday 15th June
Notes:
1. Frampton's manuscript was soon to be published as ‘Princess Charlotte and Mrs Campbell’, The Gentleman’s Magazine, n.s. v. 27, September 1876, pp. 275-289. Alicia Campbell, née Kelly, ‘Tam’ (1768–1829), a close family friend of the Framptons, first joined Princess Charlotte’s household in 1805.
2. Emily, née Shirley (d. 1881), wife of Edward Harbord, 3rd Baron Suffield and a cousin of Louisa.
3. The Honorable Walter Harbord (1834-1913), a Major in the 7th Hussars, was caught cheating at cards in Monaco. Consequently, the highly unusual step was taken of removing him from the Army without commission, "her Majesty having no further occasion for his services."
4. Harriot Georgiana Mundy, née Frampton (1806-1886), WHFT’s cousin & sister-in-law.
5. The Prince Regent, later George IV (1762-1830), giving up his bed at Carlton House for Mrs Campbell to sleep in; Alicia Campbell, née Kelly, ‘Tam’ (1768–1829), a close family friend of the Framptons, first joined Princess Charlotte’s household in 1805.