30 Dec^r 1863

Dear Henry,

Will not the enclosed ^<1> tempt you now you are so near to come on to Abb^{y <2>} – & see our Aloe – already 10 ft high & going to flower?

There is a lovely bunch of Imperati Crocus on the Terrace – white hyacinths – lithospermum – Con. ^<3> cneorum <–> coronilla – & 100 other rarities

I wish Car– ^<4> & Ernestine ^<5> a happy Xmas & a good journey

Y^r Aff
W^m

we are here for 3 weeks

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Notes:

1. Two dried leaves [unidentified, but not Aloe] attached to the page below the text.

2. Abbotsbury, Dorset: home of William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways.

3. Convolvulus.

4. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808–1881); WHFT’s half-sister.

5. Ernestine Emma Horatia Edgcumbe (1843-1925), WHFT’s niece.