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22 March 1882 — 3 Savile Row | |
Wednesday. 22nd March [1882]. The cold was very trying. It blew hard, rained, sleeted & snowed & was very chilly. I breakfasted in bed & got up late. Alice sat on my bed & we had a long talk over herself & her prospects at wh she was somewhat despondent. We had a lot of flowers to arrange wh took us some time & I left at 1.30 for Chesham Place to lunch with Addie Tavistock. I met Mr Lowell there & we spent a pleasant hour. He excused himself for arriving late as he had been kept by a painful interview with Revd Mr Lamson who is American chaplain at Florence. He came to beg him to assist him in getting a remittance of his son’s sentence to death for murder under the plea that Lamson the son & murderer of Percy John his wife’s brother had so given himself over to the habit of injecting morphine that he was no longer responsible for his acts. Lowell told us that he said to the father that he could not convince himself that if such were the case there was any reason why he should have committed a murder & that [had] he Lowell been on the jury he was convinced that he shd have condemned him as had been done. After luncheon Lowell left us & Addie & I drew up to the fire & had a chat. She was nice & sweet as ever—she talked of her work amongst the poor & especially the home for unfortunate women– She spoke much of her cousin Alice Gurney & her hope that some time she might be reclaimed. She said she was ill & poor but cd not give up a life of false excitement. She said that Mr Gurney had driven & pushed poor Alice into evil & that the P. of W. had quite turned her head & lost her by her having been the first woman in society whom he had led away & she foolishly imagined she had such a hold over him that it would last for ever. Addie says she has taken Alice Gurney’s girl of 12 from her & had undertaken to keep her at school—& has put her with a lady & hopes to save her from her mother’s fate. I came home straight from Addie’s as it was too cold to be out. Alfred Tennyson the poet & his son Hallam came to tea bringing a Mrs Arden a young lady friend with them. Tennyson was in very good humour & very pleasant & Henry & he cracked jokes & were very entertaining. Later Edward Ponsonby called & sat talking a long time. He took Alice Du Cane home with him to dinner. Henry & I went to dine with old Lady Westminster & Mrs Haliburton at Fenton’s Hotel & there was also my brother Arthur there. At 10.30 we went to Queen Anne St & spent ½ hour & brought Alice home. | |
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