| Description | Since he left London she has been busy, which her father could verify; she has finished the first volume of Caesar's Commentaries without too much help from the French translation; she would ask his opinion of the volume of "Rejected Addresses", done in imitation of leading poets of the day, in the hope he will come to town in spite of his fascination with the "Stamford Belles"; Mrs Kay and family returned from Ramsgate a fortnight ago, although house not ready, with children quartered in the city having caught colds; Mary Anne is grown, still a formal little woman, William has not grown nor learned to "speak plain" and baby is quite strong but does not resemble sister or brother; she apologises for the letter being stupid and she has a bad cough; they have not been to the new Drury to decide whether their opinion is the same as his, which is an admiring one; weather wet, foggy and disagreeable; reference to one of John Brown's garters in scarlet worsted being finished and very gay.
The letter is undated but references to Mrs Kay's baby [third child Henrietta Emilia Kay, born Apr 1811] and a new theatre at Drury Lane [opened 10 Oct 1812] suggests it was written in late 1812. The recipient could possibly be John Linnell Bond, by the reference to "Stamford Belles", as he was known to have been in Stamford in 1812 by viture of one of his letters to Eleanor (as at D8760/F/FEP/1/8/1). |