TALBOT3057

Nice

Tuesday February 24^th 1835

My dear Henry

I am a great deal better now, than when I received your extremely amusing letter, & therefore am mieux disposée ¹ to give you the description you wish for of the Col de Tende – but to begin where I left off, I must give you an account of our séjour at Turin – I am sorry to say that the journey from Aix to Nice, is the only part of my travels since I began them sixteen years ago, during which I have not kept a journal – We spent a week at Turin very agreably, to which our friends, i Sardi, partly contributed – alas! Angioj n’on c’era – adesso è colonello d’un reggimento a Alessandria ² – but Corréas & Sardo did all they could to make the time pass agreably, by procuring boxes from their friends for us at the different theatres, &c. – The first time I saw them was at the Opera, where M^r Boyl ³ arrived first & was soon followed by the others – they were perfectly lost in astonishment at seeing me so much grown, & for a long time nothing was heard but, “ Eh Carolina! quanto è ingrandita! ma non è cambiata niente – l’avrei subito riconosciuta! ma Dio mio quant’è grande! e Orazia? e Miladi? e Amelina? ⁴” & they went on expressing their gratitude for former civilities – “ Abbiamo ricevute tante finezze della casa Fielding, noi altri Sardi non possiamo moi scordarcene. ⁵” – What sounded rather odd at first, was their calling me Carolina tout court; ⁶ it rather surprised L^d V ⁷ but he soon got used to their ways – I spent several mornings copying a very fine Murillo ⁸ in the Castello in the middle of the Piazza – do you recollect it? it is a very curious building, & the collection a very good one – One lovely evening we rode up to the Superga, where I had not been before, & had a most splendid view – What would interest you most at Turin is the Egyptian Museum, ⁹ decidedly, I sh^d think, the finest in the world – unluckily we only contrived to see it en courant, ¹⁰ the last morning, while the post horses were waiting – It is extremely well arranged in large & handsome rooms, & the ornaments, small bronze figures, necklaces & vases, were innumerable – I longed for you to explain them all. – That night we slept at Corri & crossed the Col next day – I thought the approach on the north side possessed a great deal of beauty, tho’ I had no recollection of it – the ascent was so slippery the mules c^d hardly keep their feet – the day was perfectly clear, & from the summit we c^d distinguish the whole range of Alps from M^te Viso to the Grand S^t Bernard & Simplon including M^t Blanc & M^te Rosa – We slept at Tende the 1^st Nov^r it was bitter cold & not a flower to be seen. Now I hope & expect to be rewarded by another long political letter, if there is any news, if not, the smallest particle of Laycock intelligence will be thankfully received – By-the-bye, Horatia ¹¹ & I are both vexed & indignant at the Penny Club ¹² being abolished, after it had been established with so much care, was so well managed, latterly, & was calculated to do so much good. – How c^d people be so ill-advised? –

I am afraid I have put off deciding about the little trees till the season is too far advanced; but if you are sure it is not, & equally sure they cannot live where they are, pray transplant them with the utmost care, to any temporary place you like – I think the best w^d be near that old wall where there is a sort of Nursery already –

Give my love to Constance, ¹³ & tell her how much I condole with her at not being able to pay Markeaton ¹⁴ a visit – I hope she is prudent & takes care of herself – Tell her also that she has never fulfilled her promise of writing to me – I hope she will – at any rate do you –

Y^rs aff^ly

Caroline

Which candidate for the Speakership sh^d you have voted for?