Crosby, Please do not forget that you agreed to wait for my arrival before attempting to locate the original bill of sale for Nottingham from 1801. It is not, precisely, that I don’t trust you to be forthcoming about what you find, but as you have today lost a colt and I have lost two hundred guineas—or ought it to be the other way ’round?—neither of us can afford further confusion about the matter. How goes the recovery of Sothern and your stable boy, Russ? Yours, &c., Hannah Chandler Dear Miss Chandler, Is this note intended for me? Your messenger is insistent that it has been correctly delivered. But as I have not been “Mr. Crosby” for years, I assume it has in truth been misdirected. Yours, &c., Sir Bartlett Crosby Dear Bart, I suppose it is a waste of ink to call you incorrigible. Very well, you find me penitent and abject. You did not answer my question. How are they, please? Hannah Dear Hannah, I lack your subtle skill with a vinaigrette and a well-pointed question, but I have ascertained that the patients go on well under Mrs.
