Life And Letters Of Maria Edgeworth/Volume 2/Letter 95

To C.S. EDGEWORTH.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, March 14, 1834.

Having now done with business I may turn to a little pleasure; a great deal you have given me, my dear Sneyd, by your friend Mr. Smedley's approbation of Helen. His polite playful allusion to the names of the horses, which names at this moment I forget, reminds me of a similar touch of the Duchess of Wellington in describing one of the Duke's battles, she quoted from the Knapsack, "Let the sugar basin be my master."

I have written to Fanny about Lady Charlotte Fitzgerald's death. I was very much shocked at it: I loved her; she was one of my earliest friends&mdash;"Leaf by leaf drops away."