TALBOT8033

The Winter Villa¹
Sunday Jan^y 29^th 1860

My dear Henry

I promised to write to you from Melbury,² & am sorry I could not do as I intended – but though I actually began a letter, I was not able to finish it – for we were as busy as bees the whole time, seeing the curiosities, house, garden, church &c – But in the first place I must tell you how sorry I was to leave you all, & the mo[re]³ so that I felt full of remorse for not having properly thanked you for the packet of Photographs – but you gave them to me just at the last minute; & I felt somehow bewildered, & remembered afterwards how ungracious I must have appeared. I shewed them to Uncle W^m4 He admired them immensely & I presented him with two; the Door of San Giorgio Valladolid, & the distant view of Notre Dame.

You cannot think how delighted I was to see dear Melbury again – & to introduce Ernestine⁵ to all the loved places & rooms I used to be so happy in my Childhood. We found the Brougham & comfortable fat coachman at Evershot – but I missed the Lion gates Sadly – tho’ the new way in is very handsome. In course of time Unc^le W^m is going to make an avenue of Wellingtonias thro’ which the road will pass. I enjoyed my visit extremely – & so did Ernestine – both Unc^le W^m & L^y I.⁶ were so kind! The first evening one of her Sisters, a M^rs Hornby was there. (I did not care much about her, & was not sorry she went away next day –) also Captⁿ Strangways R. A. who is quartered at Norwich – but had come down to see his father, who is very ill at Rewe. – It rained all Thursday – so we looked at the house & pictures, & numbers of old letters of Lady Sarah’s⁷ & other’s, in Uncle W^m’s sittingroom. My impression is that the King was very much in love, & would have married her if she had not snubbed him. The next day I went over the Kitchen gardens & hothouses &c with the Gardner, while Ernestine drove in the ponychaise with L^y I. – I also walked down the dear old walk thro’ the valley, & up by the water; & saw the flower garden – where they are making great improvements. Uncle W^m is only allowed to be out from 11 till 2, when fine. He has given me various cuttings of Tydæa (beautiful things) Begonias, &c. That evening L^d Digby⁸ arrived from Abbotsbury⁹ – but there was no one else – and it which I was glad of – as it gave me so much more time to enjoy myself. I was sorry however not to see Theresa, who was gone to Brickworth.¹⁰ Yesterday morning there hounds met on the lawn just opposite the hall door – a very pretty sight – L^d Poltimore¹¹ is the master & has just brought his pack to hunt that part of the Country having married the daughter of Lady¹² Sheridan of Frampton,¹³ He [?]¹⁴ is very young – 23 about, & goodlooking.

After the hunters had departed [illegible deletion] we visited the church & saw the monument to Gen^l Strangways.¹⁵ I like the inscription very much. We then went to the top of the tower with M^r Dickson the groom of the Chambers – the same, I suppose, who did the honours to Matilda.¹⁶ He is a particularly nice sort of man, & told us all about Gen^l Strangway’s death. He lived with him as Soldier servant for nearly 20 years. He was close to him when he was shot, as he was in the act of giving orders for bringing up two guns – He told us too how much Gen^l Strangways was beloved by everyone – & that he died in his arms.

The old Charters you mentioned are excessively curious – Particularly Canute’s, before the foundation of the monastery, granting the lands to Ore – & another of K. Edgar’s with the date 965! I never saw anything so well mounted & preserved as they are, After lunch we posted, in the good old style, to Yeovil – but found that all our worldly goods had been sent to the other station, at the farther end of the Town – so we had to set off without them. However they all were sent on, free of charge, by the late Express; & were safely received today. The Country between Yeovil & Durston is flooded for miles & miles. The R.way is like a Chaussée¹⁷ running thro’, & only just raised above, a vast expanse of water – You see the top rails of rates, & the heads of trees, rising here & there out of the waste of waters. I wonder if it froze at Lacock yesterday? In the morning the pond at Melbury was nearly covered with ice; but here there has been no frost since we went away – & i ft feels today quite hot & muggy without a fire in the Draw^g room – Tremendous rain all day till now – 5 o’clock, when it is getting bright & clear. I hope you are all well – give my best love a tutti quanti¹⁸ –

& believe me y^r aff^te Sister
Caroline

The gardner at Melbury was Struck dumb with admiration at the Bougainvillia!