We will keep ourselves clear of all engagements the first week of the new year, and in readiness to obey your summons for any day of it. I care not whom I meet, provided it is not Sir ——, and to invite any body to meet him would be a very strong measure. Sir William and Lady Gordon are very agreeable people, and indeed I should be ashamed of myself if I were not a good deal captivated by her; but upon that point I have nothing to reproach myself with. Lewis, I suppose, was hastening on to the Treasury, with the accumulation of guilty jobs that he had discovered in Scotland; he will make a very faithful servant to the public for two or three years, beyond which period it would be a little unreasonable perhaps to expect the duration of his public virtues.
I remain, my dear Madam, very truly yours,