"Perhaps you correspond also with some rowdies, Mr. Howard? Could you oblige me with a rowdy letter?"
{rowdies = in the mid-nineteenth century, an American slang term for backwoodsmen or other rough and disorderly types}
I drew up a little at this request; my correspondents, I assured the lady, were generally men of respectability, though one of them was of a savage race.
"No doubt; but in the way of autographs, you know, one would correspond with—"
The sentence remained unfinished, for the lady added,
"I wrote myself to Madame Laffarge, not long since. I am sorry to say Lady Holberton has two of hers; but although an excellent person in most respects, yet it cannot be denied that as regards autographs, Lady Holberton is very illiberal. I offered her Grizzel Baillie, two Cardinals, William Pitt, and Grace Darling, for one of her Laffarges; but she would not part with it. Yet the exchange was very fair, especially as Madame Laffarge is still living."
{Madame Laffarge = Marie Lafarge (1816-1853), French woman convicted in 1840 for poisoning her husband; later pardoned. Grizzel Baillie = Lady Grizel Baillie (1665-1746), Scottish poet. William Pitt = either William Pitt "the Elder" (1708-1778) or William Pitt "the Younger" (1759-1806), both British Prime Ministers. Grace Darling = Grace Darling (1815-1842), English heroine and lighthouse keeper's daughter, famous for her rescue of castaways in 1838.}
I bowed an assent to the remark.
"And then she herself actually once made proposals for Schinderhannes, to a friend of mine, offering Howard, the philanthropist, Talma, William Penn, and Fenelon for him—all commonplace enough, you know—and Schinderhannes quite unique. My friend was indignant!"
{Schinderhannes = German bandit chief, executed in 1803. Howard = John Howard (1726-1790), English philanthropist and prison reformer. Talma = Francois Talma (1763-1826), popular French playwright. William Penn (1644-1718), Quaker founder of Pennsylvania. Fenelon = Francois Fenelon (1651-1715), French Archbishop and writer}