PHILIP SHELDON, Esq., &c. &c. &c.
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Philip Sheldon to Horatio Paget.
Bayswater, Oct. 8,186-.
DEAR PAGET,—The letters are mysterious, and I don't see my way to getting much good out of them, but heartily approve your management of matters, and give you carte blanche to proceed, according to your own lights.
Yours truly, P.S.
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Horatio Paget to Philip Sheldon.
Royal Hotel, Oct. 9, 186-.
MY DEAR SIR,—The cultivation of my landlord has been very profitable. The house is the oldest in the town, and the business has descended in a direct line from father to son since the time of George the Second. This man's grandfather entertained the officers of William Duke of Cumberland, honoured by his contemporaries with the soubriquet of Billy the Butcher, during the "forty-five." I had to listen to and applaud a good many stories about Billy the Butcher before I could lead my landlord round to the subject of the Haygarths. But he was not more prosy than many men I have met at dinner-parties in the days when the highest circles in the land were open to your humble servant.