SD1810. Edward George Barrett to Georgiana Elizabeth Barrett
Published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 21, 373 (in part).
Alexandria P.O.–
April 14. 1855.
My dear Missy
I am glad to find that you are satisfied with my letter of Jany. 31. The intelligence contained in your note of March 14. has very greatly relieved me from anxiety—as was also a very kind letter from uncle John. Mr Feltham’s death will I trust allow things to go smoothly for the future. As soon as this appears tolerably certain, we might execute a deed, assigning on my part the whole of my mother’s fortune (minus £1,000) to you, &, on your part any claim you might have on your father’s personality in this Island, to me. As for the bond of £700 & its accumulated interest, it is, as you know, received upon Albion, by mortgage, & consequently cannot be of greater value than that property. Albion would not now fetch more than £400. The arrangement which I propose is as follows: But here I must digress, & tell you how I think (but am by no means sure) that we stand in respect to Aunt Feltham’s property of which this bond forms a part. I fancy that she left a portion to your mother in full property—if so, this, according to our arrangement, should on your mother’s death go wholly to you, being an integral part of her fortune. And I fancy that the remainder of your aunt’s property was left to your Mother for her life, & is afterwards to be divided between us. Now suppose ‘the bond’ forms this position to be divided between us: I propose that Albion should be valued by a sworn valuator, & that I should pay to you one half of that value, as being your share of the bond. There are claims upon Albion overriding your Aunt’s mortgage; & that really it is worth nothing; because were it attempted to seize the land, those five claimants would of course affect their superior right to it—but on this I do not desire to insist; wishing to make the arrangement as satisfactory to you as is possible.
Should this meet your approbation, there is nothing to hinder us from getting the deed of division, & settlement of the bond drawn out & signed immediately—immediately that is that I find I am pretty sure not to be disturbed by other parties on account of the £700. There is no necessity for applying [1] to Mr Turner about this deed, as it lies entirely between ourselves & I could instruct my solicitor here to draw it out, & forward it to you for your approval. I should of course write to uncle John explaining matters to him, & asking his opinion—but no one can interfere between us.
By the last packet I wrote a bill for £40 to Mr Waring, & told him that you intended to make him a like payment; & at the same time expressed my hope that, on receiving our acceptance for the balance of the debt, to be paid at Xmas, he would release the articles in his possession. In your last letter you say something about appointing a person to value these things; if you desire the matter to be settled, this ought to be done as soon as possible, then you can make your selection, & each of us can take our portion without further delay, should Mr Waring agree, as I hope he will, to this proposal.
I am labouring not unsuccessfully in the settlement of the heavy debts I have to encounter. Mr Barrett has kindly consented to allow me to pay interest on his claim of £510, & to give me time for discharging the principal. I have paid him £30 on account of this year’s interest. I have also nearly completed the liquidation of various heavy law bills, amounting to close upon £400—of all ways of losing monies, this is the worst. God forbid I should have more of the same description!
Do you remember that some centuries ago you sent me a pair of slippers? I had them made up; & after having excited the admiration of many young ladies & the envy of numerous young gentlemen, they are now wofully fallen from their pristine splendor—so if you were to manufacture another pair for me, it would be very acceptable, and an occasion of immense gratitude on my part. I have a Daguerreotype of your poor father—& some day, when I have a few pounds to spare, I should like to send it to England & have a half-length painting made from it in oil, which I presume can be done. I wish you would find out how much an artist of decent ability would charge for this; the picture to be life size. With best love to Mrs Ryves I am, my dear Missy,
Yr loving brother
E G Barrett
Publication: None traced.
Sources: File copy (in part) and manuscript (in part) at Eton College Library.
1. File copy used for the text to this point; the remainder is taken from manuscript.
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