16

[top right, in pencil] [23
broken, seemed very glad to see me & enquired very particularly
after William and yourself. She soon got on the favourite hobby
the surpassing good qualities of her son in law. I wonder if she
really believes him to be as perfect as she would try to make people believe.
Well! well! we all have our weaknesses & this is hers I suppose. Her son
in laws [sic] parents live in this town, their house has been pointed out to
me, a nice looking residence - Mrs. Wells called for Julia King & said
she would very soon call to see me. Last evening Mrs Jackson & myself
hired a carriage & sent our daughters out to ride - dear good Mrs
Daggett accompanied them. What a truly good woman she appears to be

Mrs Devereux called last evening She has just returned from their
summer excursion - She made me quite a long call - then came a Miss
Reed - a very pleasant young lady an intimate friend of Lillie Devereux's - She
has just returned from Europe. Our dear Lordy got home last night = he tells
us that his Aunt & Uncle are quite well & very happily situated at the Metropol-
itan Hotel. This is said to be the finest Hotel in the world. It is 6 stories [sic] high & each
story [sic] is calculated to accommodate 30 families & 100 single gentlemen
It is finished & furnished from bottom to top with equal grandeur - The
first day it was opened 300 persons were turned off - so quickly had it
filled up. Andrew had his rooms engaged some weeks before the
house was opened. I have a great desire to let G & Flora spend a week
with Louisa before we go South. They will then be able to tell you all
about this great house. Were it not for fear of these dear children being made
sick I would return home at once. I am tired of the life I had - so unprof-
-itable, & so expensive. You & I naturally supposed it would be so easy
to make good bargains here - I am utterly disgusted - so much cheating
over-reaching, I never believed could be practised - One Landlady told us
she want[ed] to get a carpet not long since at the best Carpet establishment here.
She told the merchant what she wanted & added that she was willing to pay a
fair price &c was no "jockey", &c &c - he agreed with her that jockeying was
a shameful practice - he never was guilty of it &c / gave her the car-
pet at his very lowest price 87^1/2 cts., the very lowest he could sell for - it
had cost him 80 cts at Auction in N.Y. The same day one of her neigh-

broken. Seemed very glad to see me & enquired very particularly
after William and yourself. She soon got on the favourite hobby
the surpassing good qualities of her son in law. I wonder if she
really believes him to be as perfect as she would try to make people believe.
Well! well! we all have our weaknesses & this is hers I suppose. Her son
in laws [sic] parents live in this town, their house has been pointed out to
me, a nice looking residence - Mrs. Wells called for Julia King & said
she would very soon call to see me. Last evening Mrs Jackson & myself
hired a carriage & sent our daughters out to ride - dear good Mrs
Daggett accompanied them. What a truly good woman she appears to be

Mrs Devereux called last evening She has just returned from their
summer excursion - She made me quite a long call - then came a Miss
Reed - a very pleasant young lady an intimate friend of Lillie Devereux's - She
has just returned from Europe. Our dear Lordy got home last night - he tells
us that his Aunt & Uncle are quite well & very happily situated at the Metropol-
itan Hotel. This is said to be the finest Hotel in the world. It is 6 stories [sic] high & each
story [sic] is calculated to accommodate 30 families & 100 single gentlemen
It is finished & furnished from bottom to top with equal grandeur - The
first day it was opened 300 persons were turned off - so quickly had it
filled up. Andrew had his rooms engaged some weeks before the
house was opened. I have a great desire to let G & Flora spend a week
with Louisa before we go South. They will then be able to tell you all
about this great house. Were it not for fear of these dear children being made
sick I would return home at once. I am tired of the life I had - so unprof-
-itable, & so expensive. You & I naturally supposed it would be so easy
to make good bargains here - I am utterly disgusted - so much cheating
over-reaching, I never believed could be practised - One Landlady told us
she want[ed] to get a carpet not long since at the best Carpet establishment here.
She told the merchant what she wanted & added that she was willing to pay a
fair price &c was no "jockey", &c &c - he agreed with her that jockeying was
a shameful practice - he never was guilty of it &c / gave her the car-
pet at his very lowest price 87^1/2 cts., the very lowest he could sell for - it
had cost him 80 cts [cents] at Auction in N.Y. The same day one of her neigh-