TALBOT6455

Laycock Abbey
Sunday August 17^th 1851

My dearest Henry

I received your letter from Brussels this morning - it was forwarded from Belgrave Square ¹ -

It was a melancholy satisfaction to me to find that you had heard the fatal news ² - for I did not know where you were, & dreaded your arrival in England unprepared for this sad blow! She was indeed an angel! Our only comfort must be that she is now happy, & free from all the suffering which I fear would have been her lot, had she recovered from this attack.

If you have seen M^r Nicholl ³ he will have told you the arrangements we were obliged to make without you - we knew her wish had always been to be deposited in the same grave with her parents ⁴ in Laycock Church yard - & I therefore wrote to ask Constance ⁵ for leave to come here & make what use of the house that would be required -

Poor Wright ⁶ took charge of all, as on two former sad occasions - & W. Gaisford ⁷ & I & his Brother came down here on Friday morning - Val ⁸ was already here - & we followed the mournful procession through the orchard & garden, exactly as before, in the afternoon, about three o'clock.

Val staid till today, to comfort me, & goes back to Mount E. ⁹ this evening, where his presence is of great use & pleasure to his Father & Charlie. ¹⁰

M^r Gaisford's Brother went on the same day to Iford & he & I settled to stay till tomorrow - partly that we might go to Church here - & partly to look over her papers & letters together - This we have done - & have put them all in order to shew you - because we are aware that we ought not to take anything away without your knowledge - We have therefore most scrupulously avoided destroying any, the most useless [illegible] of papers - (except 3 or 4 letters of mine, to w^h I thought I was entitled) - although I could not find any papers or letters that concerned you in the least - with the exception of your own letters, which are all carefully put together. The very few other things I thought you would care about, & some old papers on business, are also put by themselves - But by far the greater part of the contents of her table are letters of our Parents, which can now only interest me - & ought in fact to be burned -

Having now heard that you are in London, or will be there tomorrow, I write to beg you to join us here, in order to arrange these papers at once, & read her Will, w^h is I believe in M^r West Audrey's ¹¹ hands - Pray write, if you can by tomorrow's Post, to say you will come -which I entreat you to do - If It is very difficult to say how we might all meet here again for this purpose - besides the sooner those things are arranged the better - The little Baby ¹² is left in Belgrave Sq^re with it's [sic] 2 Nurses and Pam[?] & Ernestine ¹³ to take care of it - but I am anxious not to be away from it (or her,) longer than I can help, till he is old enough to travel; when M^r G. will take him to his Parents at Iford - He is very healthy, thank God, & so thriving, that he will very soon be in a state to move. - Pray therefore, dear Henry, do not be dilatory, but come at once - Perhaps you will be on your way tomorrow - do, if possible - otherwise write that I may hear Tuesday morning. We had determined today to wait till Tuesday afternoon's Express to London - to give time for you to come by the morn^g Express, or some early train in case you had could not manage to write to apprize us of y^r arrival - But we will even, if necessary, wait till Wednesday morn^g - for the chance - But please come as soon as possible, or write - or send a letter in a parcel to be delivered immediately. - The poor old Abbey looks so peaceful - & all the flowers in her garden so bright & blooming!

Y^r very aff^te Sister
Caroline