[Shrewsbury]
June 12th.
My dear Charles,
I cannot tell you the delight receiving your letter from St. Salvador
gave us—we had been so impatiently longing to hear from you & it was
such pleasure to have such an interesting happy account of you We miss you
& talk about you & think about you more even than I expected—
by this time you will have had our packets of letters, we have written by the first of
Tuesday of every month since you went to Rio & latterly to Monte
Video— do not forget to give us notice when we are to change our
direction— by counting months you will always tell if you receive all our
letters for I again assure you till you return I take the responsibility of seeing that
a letter goes to you every month— Susan had only room in her last letter to
tell you Fanny Owen & Mr Biddulph were married on the
31st of May & promised I should add a more particular
account— the party assembled was almost entirely female all the men
being in London— nobody was staying in the house but the Humphreys my sisters
& Mr Biddulps brother— I went early in the morning of
the day with Miss Casteau as I had been staying a few days at Maer & did not get
home till the 30th. We got to Woodhouse between 8 & 9 &
Fanny soon sent for me to her room She was beautifully dressed in white of course, with
her bonnet & veils on—all ready. She looked so odd & so much
like a person going on the stage that we had a very merry laugh together. She was very
nice & affectionate & I sat with her whilst the breakfast was going
on— all the maids came in to have a look at the bride & after
breakfast all the ladies who had arrived for breakfast came up stairs to see Fanny,
which she found very disagreeable— those who came to breakfast were the
Kenyons, Bridgemans, Mathews, Dymocks, Smythe Owens, & Cottons— at 1012 the procession began, 10 carriages— I went with Fanny
Caroline & Emma poor Caroline was very low. Mr. Biddulph looked
very handsome & gentlemanlike & extremely nervous, during the ceremony
he looked quite white & his hands blue. Fanny shook so much she could hardly
write her name. they went off to Chirk from the church. Mr
Hunt I thought read the Service very well. We all returned to
Woodhouse the day was long— the tenants assembled in front of the house
playing games &c. the evening ended by a servants ball
& all the farmers wives & daughters in the neighborhd came. the ball
went off with great spirit & the dining room so crowded that the heat was
intolerable. the next morning we all went home— Susan & Cath
have since this met Mr. & Mrs. Biddulph for a day
at Woodhouse, Fanny looking very handsome & happy. they went to London
last week for a month— Mrs. Owen & Caroline are now in
London—staying with Mrs. Williams. She (Mrs. W.)
has not got quite well from the accident by which she hurt her foot—&
is still forced to use crutches— there has been a letter from Arthur Owen, he
was more lucky than you being only sick one day— he wrote from Madeira in
rapture with the flowers & climate— Nothing is yet settled about
Francis— there were no Young ladies to Arthurs great disappointment—
his Captain thinks his merchant ship the first in the world.— Eyton after all
is not gone to Germany. Mr. Hope did not wait for him & he would
not follow— I shall mention all the people about: the Leightons we have seen a
good deal of lately as Catherine & the girls have taken a drawing rage &
go out sketching together most days— You have heard in Susan's last letter of
Sir James Makintosh death, all his books are to be sold this spring. When the debts are
paid it is supposed there will be about £3500 between all his
children Hensleigh & Fanny will live near London so that Hensleigh can drive to
his Police Office every day— they are coming to Maer next month, & the
Langtons in September. Erasmus has I think rather a spite to Mr
Langton he does not think him worthy of Charlotte, full of small talk & not very
sensible but I do not feel sure that he is right in his opinion as he seemed determined
not to like him. I have had many nice happy letters from Charlotte— Erasmus
had intended going to Paris with Fred Hildyard in July but in a letter we had from him
yesterday he says now that Paganini is in London he can not leave it—
Marianne, Cath & I are going to the sea tomorrow, for a fortnight to the Rhyl
near St. Asaph— the 3 elder boys go with us &
leave the baby at home.— I mention the number of children for fear like
Erasmus you should forg<e>t all about your nephews— Papa is very
well—he is going to have a new carriage built to hold two people instead of
having a new Sulky— poor old Pincher is quite affectionate to me now that his
master is away & I always pet him out of regard to his master. Nina is getting
fat—
Frank Wedgwood & Mrs. Frank are staying here.
Mrs. Frank is a very uninteresting person not at all agreeable, large
& plain. She seems very fond of Frank a capital scrattle & amiable so I
hope they will do well together & she is sensible— We are going this
evening to the Circus to see a very good set of horses that are in Shrewsbury—
Dr H. Johnson is come to live here & he dines with us
& joins our party I forget whether you know him— I was surprised this
morning to meet 3 Miss Hills of Berrington all going to ride at the Circus
going alone without any gentleman or even a servant. Mr. Everard Fielding
was married last week to Miss Baughey
I am ashamed of sending such an abominably stupid letter, but there never was
a month with less to tell in it We have done nothing but garden & I think to
write about our flowers would hardly do now that you are seeing tropical
vegetation— Mr Sedgwick called for half an hour on his return
from Wales & was very pleasant—what a very agreeable man he is
& what an agreeable countenance he has. We heard a report that William Fox has
been very ill, in a letter from Miss Bent to one of the Wedgwoods she says ``he is now
so much better that he walks out every day, but his Doctor bled him so violently that it
will be long before he recovers his strength'' Cath wrote to Julia to enquire of him but
we have had no answer. Do be careful of yourself dear Charles. I can not help feeling
afraid that you will make yourself ill by over exertion in some scheme which you enjoy.
Papa & all join in love to you with mine my very dear Charles how I shall enjoy
seeing your dear old face again.
Ever yrs affly Caroline Darwin—
(Letter finished June 28th)
