“I am truly concerned that any mistake of mine should
have caused you uneasiness, but I hope we have got a clue to William’s absence, which may clear up
all apprehensions. The people where he lodges in town have received direction
from him to forward one or two of his shirts to a place called Winterslow, in
the county of Hants [Wilts] (not far from Salisbury), where the lady lives
whose Cottage, pictured upon a card, if you opened my letter you have doubtless
seen, and though we have had no explanation of the mystery since, we shrewdly
suspect that at the time of writing that Letter which has given you all this
trouble, a certain son of yours (who is both Painter & Author) was at her
elbow, and did assist in framing that very Cartoon, which was sent to amuse and
mislead us in town as to the real place of his destination. And some words at
the back of the said Cartoon, which we had not marked so narrowly before, by
the similarity of the hand-writing to William’s, do
very much confirm the suspicion. If
| 160 | END OF THE CARTOON. |
“The Letter to the people where William lodges says, moreover, that he shall be in town in a fortnight.
“My sister joins in respects to you and Mrs. Hazlitt, and in our kindest remembrances & wishes for the restoration of Peggy’s health.
