TALBOT3078

Nice
5^th May 1835

My dearest Henry

A thousand times do I wish you & Constance ¹ joy of the happy event! ² We had been looking anxiously for the welcome tidings every post day for the last three weeks, & wondering at the delay– & now the little creature is actually born. I somehow felt as delighted & surprised as if nothing of the sort had been expected – I hope you will not fail to write again immediately, to let us know how Constance is going on & what Ela is like –

I wish I could tell you what was likely to become of us this summer, but alas! That is impossible at present – We had intended as you know, to return to England, leaving Nice about this time, & going by way of Aix – but L^d Valletort’s ³ unceasing gout leaves very little hope that we shall be able to set out before it is too late for me to think of undertaking such a long journey – He has been ill now more than four months – several times he has appeared to be getting well, & each time has had a relapse, which I attribute to the constant Easterly winds – it is most melancholy & trying to the spirits – & I am in constant admiration at the patience with which he bears it – He is at this moment in bed, tolerably easy, though he has had a miserable night – you could hardly imagine how thin he is grown – A few days must now decide our plans, as if he is not well enough to travel in a fortnight, we must then determine to spend the summer here It is just post time, & I have only time left to beg you to write by return of post, to tell me two things – The first, whether Constance is sufficiently pleased with M^rs Wilkes ⁴ to be worth while my sending for her all the way to Nice – & the second, to whether she would be willing to co[me]⁵ abroad so far as this; being nearly don[e] the journey she took last year to Geneva – I must know this in time to be able to settle with somebody or other, if we determine to stay on here – so pray answer immediately

Give my best love to dear Constance & a kiss to Ela –

Ever y^r aff^te Sister
Caroline

Angleterre
W. Henry Fox Talbot Esq^r
31 Sackville Street
London