"MY DEAR MABEL" [wrote the lord of Ridgeley]--"I wish you, so soon
as yon receive this, to communicate with Jenkyns and Smythe
concerning the new parlor furniture I ordered from them. In talking
it over, Clara and I have decided that it had better be covered with
maroon, instead of green, as you advised. I enclose a sample of
damask which they must match exactly. I would I write direct to
them, but think it likely that Jenkyns, the managing man of the
firm, is in your neighborhood at this time. He told me, when I was
in town, of his intention to visit Mrs. Wilson, his sister, I
believe, who lives on the White Oak road, about three miles from
Ridgeley. Send for him, and put the samples into his hands. If he
cannot get the precise color in Richmond, let him order it from New
York.
"The carpets for the parlor, dining-room, and Clara's chamber I have
bought in Lowell. Clara accompanied me thither, and gave me the
benefit of her taste in the selection. I have resolved, also, to
purchase wallpaper in Boston to match these. Say as much to
Jenkyns. I shall have the boxes directed to his care and instruct
him further respecting making the carpets and hanging the paper when
I return.
"Ask Roberts (the mason) whether it will be practicable to build a
fire-place in the large lower hall. Another chimney would be an
unsightly appendage to the roof, but Clara agrees with me, since
studying the plan of the house I brought on for her inspection, that
a flue could be run through the closet in your room into the rear
one of the west chimneys. She thinks the hall must be freezing cold
in winter, and caught eagerly at my idea that a blazing fire at one
end would lighten the sombre effect of the oaken wainscot and lofty
ceiling. I proposed to tear down the panelling, but she was
horrified at the thought. I could not take more pride and interest
in preserving the antique character of the home of my forefathers
than does she. She will have it that the hall, thus improved, and
hung with a few old pictures, some bits of ancient armor, and
carpeted with maroon and green will be truly baronial. You and she
will agree admirably in your enthusiastic love of the venerable, and
in your aesthetic tastes. I congratulate myself hourly upon my good
fortune in securing such a companion for myself, and such an
instructress for yourself. You cannot fail to derive infinite
benefit from intercourse with her.