Markeaton ^<1>
Saturday evening

My dear Henry –

I too am agreeably surprised by receiving a letter from you so soon as this morning – for strange to say, without any assignable cause, for the change, letters from Lacock now generally arrive in the short space of one day – This is a vast improvement & I hope will continue. – I have not much to communicate at present beyond the simple fact of my safe arrival – Ela ^<2> is quite well & happy today – & very thankful is her Mamma not to have had a third-day’s travelling with her – for no child of any age or any disposition could have proved less agreeable as a companion – Poor little dear! I was sorry for her, though I could not help thinking she might have reserved her crossness till she had some right to be tired. – We had a miserably cold wet day all the way from Worcester to Lichfield where we stopped for dinner between 2 & 3 – At Birmingham we had previously given Ela some luncheon – what a large dirty smoky town Birmingham is! I never wish to see it again – We had fine weather after leaving Lichfield & reached Markeaton at ½ past 6. – long before they expected us – It After an absence of 3 years & ¾ – it seems to me like a dream being here again! – Some things look just the same as they used to do, & some things are so altered! – Even parts of the house which I know must be just the same as I left them, look different to my unaccustomed eyes – the passages &c which I used to think so spacious now look quite contracted – this fancied alteration arises I suppose s from a comparison with the unbounded space at Lacock – Of friends I have only seen at present, the old housekeeper (M^rs Edgar) & my dear good great-uncle M^r Leaper– He came here immediately after breakfast, so great was his impatience to see us – It would have pleased you to see the interest with which he watched all Ela’s movements. – he [sic] admired her figure & remarked the strong likeness to you – She became very sociable with him, tried to call him Uncle, played with his gloves & stole some mignonette from his button hole. Edgar too was delighted with her – By the way my Uncle enquired most affectionately after your welfare – you know you always were a great favorite of his – & agreed wondrously in politics – I am charmed to see him looking extremely well – & scarcely a day older than when I saw him last – Harriot ^<3> purposes driving over to see me in the course of the week – & will come to stay the week after – I hear she is particularly well – I long to have Ela & Noel ^<4> together – He has already sent her a little barking dog & says he will give her any of his playthings –

Marian ^<5> seems quite as well as I expected to find her, & they think she is now beginning to recover from the fatigues of her journey – My other Sisters ^<6> are not looking so well as I had hoped – they are thin & sadly pale & look as if they had been over exerting themselves, which I believe is the truth – I mean to pin them to their chairs as long as I stay. – My Father ^<7> is not quite at his best, but does not seem much amiss – As to myself, I be[lieve] I am already the better for change of air – for I slept better last night than I have done for a long time – Tell Horatia ^<8> that I have found a new fattening substance called Irish moss ^<9> – & when I come home will teach her how to prepare it & eat it – Pray tell me about her when you write again –

Emily tells me that the blue mountains which I saw were the Malvern hills – they I knew not that they were so grandiose – Distribute loves around to your companions at the breakfast table – if indeed you contrive without my assistance to meet them there –

Ever dearest, your affectionate
Constance

I rather think I am a sufficient gourmande to regret your ripe figs – in other fruits they certainly eclipse us here – Such a dessert appeared on the table today! – Apricots riper than any of ours – delicious pears – beautiful cherries – very fine red & white currants – besides plums, green-gages &c &c –

Once more adieu –

Pray tell this in praise of our Derbyshire climate – the currants of course having been carefully preserved, by covering them with mats &c – Good night – it is late. –

H. F. Talbot Esq^re
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham

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Notes:

1. Markeaton Hall, Derbyshire, NW of Derby: home of the Mundy family.

2. Ela Theresa Talbot (1835–1893), WHFT’s 1^st daughter.

3. Harriot Georgiana Mundy, née Frampton (1806-1886), WHFT’s cousin & sister-in-law.

4. Francis Noel Mundy (1833–1903), WHFT’s nephew.

5. Her sister, Marian Gilder, née Mundy (1806 – 14 October 1860); m. 6 August 1844 William Troward Gilder (d. 1871), Army Surgeon (ret).

6. Laura Mundy (1805– 1 September 1842), WHFT’s sister-in-law and Emily Mundy (1807– 5 November 1839), WHFT’s sister-in-law.

7. Francis Mundy (1771–1837), politician and father of Constance Talbot.

8. Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810–1851), WHFT’s half-sister.

9. The principal constituent of Irish moss is a gelatinous substance, carrageenan.