TALBOT972

Calais.
20 May 1822

My Dear M^r Feilding

Your letter to Bordeaux followed us to Paris, and the two to Orleans we found here, so that I believe we have received all. M^r Moore ¹ returned from England while we were at Paris, & I gave him your letter. They have started a new claim against him for more than £1000 – I found at Paris an inventory from Richard ² of things left in the Rue de Clichy: ³ but as they are now all arranged differently, I thought it was of no use to send it on to you. I have written a long letter to Caroline ⁴ this evening; I daresay she will tell you all the news there is in it. The steam packet sails at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning; the present appearance of the weather is serene & calm. We just caught Lady Payne ⁵ at Paris, before she went to England, for her daughter’s ⁶ eyesight – We met here walking in the street M^r & M^rs Long Wellesley: ⁷ they have been here 4 or 5 weeks – In the book of names at the inn, we see several times lately “Lord Winchilsea & M^r Finch”. ⁸ We cannot think how they can have passed backwards & forwards so often, or where they have been. It appears also from the same book, that half our family have been collected at S^t Omer these last 2 or 3 weeks – There is “M^r & Lady C. Lemon”, ⁹ “Lord Ilchester et son courrier” ¹⁰ “M^r Nicholl & Lady Harriet Frampton” “Lady Ilchester ¹¹ & M^r Nicholl” all going “Dover to S^t Omer” and “S^t Omer to Dover”. I cannot make it out exactly, but I don’t think Lady Ilchester has been there; perhaps it is some mistake, as it is all in the handwriting of the Inn people. We felt a saisissement ¹² at sight of the steeple of Calais after so long a journey –

Dover May 21^st

We crossed in 4 hours and 35 minutes, in the Sovereign. The wind was fair, and we sailed, but there was not much of it – I was delighted with the steam vessel. ¹³ The carriage was not taken to pieces, and we sat in it all the time. We were not in the least affected with the vessel’s motion; it was very smooth water. We sailed, or rather smoked, in company with the Rob Roy. She started a few minutes before us, and I was highly delighted at seeing her set off, never having seen one in motion before. Lord & Lady Paulet ¹⁴ were in the same vessel with us, The custom house have seized lots of things from them, and all the nurses are crying for the loss of their shawls – The newspapers of today have an advertisement of a column & a half, announcing the sale by auction of Wanstead House. ¹⁵

Yours affectionately
W.H.F.Talbot.

à Monsieur
Monsieur le Capitaine Feilding

Poste Restante
Florence
Italie