"It is no easy matter to give any advice as to what should be done, especially as I do not know whether Mr. Gladstone is still in London, though I rather imagine he has left for Hawarden.
"If Mr. Sicotte were anywhere but here (where he never ought to have been), I should advise Messrs. Howe and Tilley to see Mr. Gladstone, perhaps with you; but I can neither recommend them to see him with or without Mr. Sicotte, so long as he is here.
"As I wrote to you yesterday, the business ought to have been closed three days ago, for though I think. Mr. Gladstone's stipulation wrong, it ought not to have been allowed to interfere with a final arrangement.
"I agree with you that the new phrase about an 'uncovered loan' is not very intelligible, but I put the same interpretation upon it that you do.
"I am not without hope that whilst I am writing some 'leeway' may have been recovered through Sir F. Rogers and Mr. Anderson, but, as the best thing I can do, I propose this:
"I ought to go down to Surrey, to attend Mrs. Hope's funeral on Thursday morning, but being far from well, I was inclined to excuse myself from so long a railway journey, which I find injurious, but my decision is altered by your difficulty. I will be at Thomas' Hotel to- morrow night at 10 o'clock, if you can meet me at that time, and if you like to appoint Howe and Tilley a quarter of an hour later, I will see them and discuss what we ought to do.
"I feel very confident we can yet set matters right, if we can only prevent Mr. Sicotte upsetting the coach.
"I cannot see you on Thursday, as, being in London, I must go by the 9 a.m. train to attend the funeral at Deep Dene, and I may be late in returning to town in the evening.
"I am, yours sincerely,
"NEWCASTLE."
Memorandum from my diary of 10th December, 1862.