"We met him at Bonn on our way to a great family gathering here; where, I
must tell you, we are assembled for what I call the Congress of Baden!
The chief of the house of Kew is here, and what time he does not devote
to skittles, to smoking cigars, to the jeu in the evenings, to Madame
d'Ivry, to Madame de Cruchecassee, and the foreign people (of whom there
are a host here of the worst kind, as usual), he graciously bestows on
me. Lord and Lady Dorking are here, with their meek little daughter,
Clara Pulleyn; and Barnes is coming. Uncle Hobson has returned to Lombard
Street to relieve guard. I think you will hear before very long of Lady
Clara Newcome. Grandmamma, who was to have presided at the Congress of
Baden, and still, you know, reigns over the house of Kew, has been
stopped at Kissingen with an attack of rheumatism; I pity poor Aunt
Julia, who can never leave her. Here are all our news. I declare I have
filled the whole page; men write closer than we do. I wear the dear
brooch you gave me, often and often; I think of you always, dear, kind
uncle, as your affectionate Ethel.
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