TALBOT3085

Nice
14^th May

My Dearest Henry

We were very uneasy indeed about dear Constance ¹ till your second letter arrived, giving such a much better account. I am most glad you continued to direct here for here we are & likely to remain for the greatest part of the summer, which I regret excessively but impexuius [sic] circumstances seem to decide in spite of all parties wishing to go to England. Lord V. ² is seized with the maladie du païs, ³ but as he has not been out of two rooms for more than 4 months, it is impossible for him to undertake the journey in time for her to be in London pour ses couches, ⁴ & he will not consent to be separated from her, or else I would have accompanied her home & left him to follow when he is well enough. I should have liked that scheme very much as I am home sick & though we are going for a fortnight to Genoa I do not promise myself any pleasure there which can make up to me for so long an absence from you & Laycock & my trees, & the agreeable company of Danile di Voltena & Simone da Pesaro. I believe Caroline ⁵ will do perfectly well here without me, whether she has M^rs Wilkes or a Niparde Garde-Malade, ⁶ but still it seems unnatural to desert her in a strange land, though she has many friends here & good advice, and the climate is so favorable that the ladies here make nothing of it, which is the case in all hot countries. I am charmed to hear the little Ela ⁷ has a placid temper she has certainly every right to it, and it is besides a sign of perfect health. What a pity that Constance’s happiness in her little daughter should have been disturbed by that hitch in her recovery. How I long to see your child my darling Henry! How grevious that I am to be kept here so many months without occupying that real pleasure. Aix is by no means necessary for Horatia ⁸ but as it is there she may as well complete her cure, tho what she requires of her hands & feet beyond playing all day & dancing all night I cannot divine. The very moment Caroline is carossable ⁹ after her accouchement ¹⁰ they are resolved to go home, and if Mr F ¹¹ & H. will stay abroad I must leave them to their own devices – I wish (like Caligula ¹²) that all the O’Connell family had but one head, that it might be cut off at one blow. Is not Morgan O’C’s ¹³ conduct in the first firing thought very unfair?

Pray write again very soon Caroline was quite unhappy about Constance till your second letter came – I was sorry I had told her as it preyed upon her mind-

H. Fox Talbot Es^qr
31 Sackville Street
London
Angleterre