‘My dear Mr. Rogers,—I am quite ashamed of the time that has elapsed since I wrote to you; I hope you are pretty well, and have been so since you have been at Brighton. I do not know whether you have seen Lord Ely, who has been there for the last ten days. . . . Since I wrote to you we went to Paris, and while there we paid a visit to the Emperor and Empress at Fontainebleau: it is a beautiful place, and we enjoyed our visit there so much; we went long drives into the forest every day, and two days we had a large chasse. The costume the Emperor has chosen is very pretty. The Empress rides very well indeed, and looks lovely in it. We have had very changeable weather since we have been here, a great deal of rain and cold.
‘The Queen remains here till the 22nd, and then goes to Windsor. I am afraid I shall not see you at Brighton, as Lord Ely writes me he has settled to go to Paris for a short tune, but I hope when you come to London we shall meet very often, and if later we go to Brighton I will not fail to let you know. I hear Miss Coutts is returning immediately from Paris; I saw her when we were there. The Duchess of Wellington is gone with the Duke to Italy for the winter, and her sister is gone with them.
‘I hope you will believe how happy I shall be to hear some news of you, and that I am ever
