WCP5653

[1]

9. St. Mark's Crescent

Regent's Park.

Monday. May 8th. [1865]¹

My dear Hanbury /

I wrote to you on Saturday the moment I found I could not stir from home on Monday, and I made sure you w[oul]^d receive my note the same evening, for it was then only midday; so that I was surprised and grieved that you sh[oul]^d have had the trouble of sending the carriage this morning. However as you told me Mrs. Hanbury² was also making use of it I trust the inconvenience has not been great. I sent you the Dammar³.

The affair of the pension is decided, as you may see by the enclosed notes from Markham[?] & the Duchess of Sutherland⁴. The amount is smaller than I had hoped, but with the small remnant of my own property may suffice to keep me barely above want. Should my book excite any éclat [French: shine], perhaps an additional 50£ a year might be asked for. I know [2] not however when that will be, for I am not now in a state to work at anything. I suppose if this congestion & suffocation in the chest keep getting worse, some bloodvessel must burst to relieve it.

I very much want your advice about the management of my slender funds, and the disposal of my MSS. should I not live to publish them, which seems very likely.

I have just had a very kind visit from Lady Taunton⁵, who promises to call again & asks me to visit her. But I cannot now go anywhere, and I must wait 2 or 3 days longer before I think of encroaching on Mrs. Hanbury's hospitality.

I shall direct this to Clapham C[ommon]. in the hope that you may get it tomorrow morning at breakfast.

Ever truly yours | Rich^d Spruce [signature]

D[aniel]. Hanbury Esq.