TALBOT452

Florence
Nov^r 28^th

My dear Henry,

We are very much obliged to you for your letter & advice but as is usual on such occasions, I believe we shall not follow it, the fact is that we shall return by the Perugia road as far Foglino [sic] in the way to Ancona or indeed it is not improbable we may return here so that either way we shall se the most beautiful part of the road & I rather wish to see Siena. I believe we shall go by the Post but I do not agree with you exactly in liking it better than by Voiture[s?] for if I see a plant I want I have to hollow [sic] for half an hour before they will stop the trouble of which stops my botanic ardour amazingly –I was excessively sorry that you had left Florence before we arrived for I expected to have been so much fêted & petted, as it is even fair Florence herself looks grim at us, we have had quite London weather since we came, incessant rain & whilst we were at Genoa I could hardly believe it was Nov^r it was really too hot to bear – Genoa is the spot in the world the most suited to my taste were it but free but under the present Government beautiful as it is I c^d not live there for six months. – We went to Pisa by the new road which is not entirely finished for 6 or 7 miles we went along the bed of the river & how we got over it without breaking the Carriage & our own Bones I do not know but I am very glad we came that way for it is beautiful the whole way particularly the Gulf of Spezzia – We shall be very much obliged to you or M^r Fielding ¹ [sic] to take lodgings for us at Rome we shall arrive on the 21^st of Dec^r – we shall want two sitting rooms for ourselves one with a fireplace & to the south one bed room for ourselves, two servants bed rooms & a sitting room with fireplace for them Linen to be found us & our dinner from a restaurateur; We do not want them large or expensive but sh^d prefer them to be all on the same floor, except the Man Servant’s which we do not care about. – We do not mind being on the second floor I travel with my own bed so we shall only want one in our bedroom – this is all I can think of excepting that you may take it from 21^st of Dec^r to 21^st of Jan^y – at which time we shall go to Naples which information you may send to William ² as he is so anxious to hear of us. Pray tell Aunt Lily ³ I expect to see a great deal of the live world at Rome by her help & of the dead world with yours.

I have very good accounts of all at Penrice ⁴ Charlotte ⁵ much better & Mama ⁶ very well – How I have written so far with such horrible ink I do not know but I am quite tired of it & so are you so adieu

your aff
Jane H Nicholl

A Mon^r
Monsieur W. H. Talbot
Poste Restante
a Rome