Miss Baker [7] mentions that Yarborough has been ill at Cambridge & wishes to know whether it arises from their intense studying that the young men at the Universities are so frequently indisposed.
Mrs Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope.
GROVE, January 26th, 1807.
We are now returning to town, your father arrived there last Thursday.
The waggon with our goods was overturned twice in going from Cannon
Hall to Wakefield….
This day se'nnight we left home, & called at Woolley, but Mrs Wentworth was not well enough to see us. Thence we waded through the worst possible road to Hensworth where we found Sir Francis (Wood) with the gout and Lady Wood like a Ghoul….
More bad roads to Fryston where we found, including ourselves, a party of seventeen, three less than was expected, among others Lord and Lady Galway [8] and two Miss Moncktons.
The noise, riot and confusion of the house I shall not attempt to
describe.
On the following day they drove from Fryston to a ball in the neighbourhood, of which Mrs Stanhope relates:—
We arrived about nine. The ball-room was beautiful. It was hung with white Calico, with a wreath of evergreens round the top of the room and festoons from it of the same all round; the only fault was the pure white of the Calico made all the ladies look dirty. There were 160 or 170 people, many I did not know, many Men, but where the majority came from I cannot pretend to say; Darlingtons, Ramsdens, Cookes, Taylors, etc, and our large party the chief from the neighbourhood.
The dances were too long and too crowded, which made it not pleasant for the dancers, but it was a fine ball, upon the whole, but much inferior in every respect to Kippax.
Your sisters danced a good deal, and both of them with a Bond Street lounger whose name was Carey. I believed he was rouged. He desired his hostess to introduce him to a partner, stipulating—"But let her be charming!" and as she had promised Anne, she had the good fortune, and I suppose he found her what he wished, for he afterwards honoured Marianne, and they were both vastly amused at his conceit and folly.