TALBOT3002

Calais
6^th November 1834

My Dear Mother

We have received no letter from you since Brussels, tho’ by Horatia’s ¹ directions we enquired at the Post Office at Ostend, & have likewise made enquiries here. The Quins ² are lodged at their Hotel only two rooms distant from us – He has been very ill with the gout, brought on by overwalking himself in the Tyrol during very hot weather. M^r & M^rs G Heneage ³ are likewise here, waiting to learn the result of a lawsuit at Paris. Some Frenchman of the name of Perier let M^r H. his house in Rue neuve du Luxembourg for 3 years, & then afterwards changing his mind asked M^r H. to give up the lease, which was declined. M^r H. underlet the house to the Duchess of Cannizzaro, ⁴ which when M. Perier heard he declared that the lease was legally forfeited & that he should enter & take possession without more ceremony – So he informed the Duchess that she was welcome to leave the house, but not to enter it again. Accordingly when the Duchess went out to dinner, the landlord locked the doors of the house; the Duchess returning was denied admission, & was obliged to go to an Hotel,

She wrote to M^r Heneage who had left Paris to state that she could not gain admittance into the house he had let to her & she must therefore look out for another. M^r H. directed his lawyer to commence an action against Perier, which was decided against him. Perier appealed to a second Court which confirmed the judgment of the former tribunal – But, resolved to give all the trouble possible, P. has appealed to a third court, & the appeal remains to be tried. – In the meantime the poor Duchess who loves her ease, and is not exactly the sort of person to bear such pushing about without minding it, is left in a most disconsolate situation half in the house & half out.

I see in the newspapers that Stavordale & Ste. ⁵ are gone to Oxford together. The Lansdownes ⁶ I am told are at Paris – Quin told us a story today of his friends M^r & M^rs Hoy ⁷ (the late M.P. for Southampton) He says they have lately made a tour quite surprising for a lady who is very delicate. By sea to Constantinople, & not chusing to return the same way because they had been fired at in the Dardanelles, they returned by land over the Balkan [sic] in a carriage: which occupied them 20 days – It required a dozen peasants to support the carriage; they had a good Tartar servant for interpreter, but unluckily he killed himself by accidentally discharging his own pistol. The carriage contained, besides the owners, a wounded Eagle and a marmot; but to complete the originality of the expedition, they had with them an infant Greek girl, a foundling, & no nurse for her; M^rs H. having make this acquisition at Const^ple & meaning to bring her up as an adopted child – And as she survived this journey, it is to be supposed that she is destined by Fate to arrive at a good old age.

Your aff^te
Henry

Miladi Elisabeth Feilding
Poste Restante
Nice maritime
par Antibes
(Var)