I regret exceedingly that Mrs. Van Cortlandt is still in the Catskills, and that our house still remains in its condition of summer dismantlement. Were she at home, and the house in order, you would come directly to us, of course. As this cannot be, I have engaged an apartment for you with my old landlady, Mrs. Warden, No. 68 Clinton Place. For a number of years before I was married I occupied rooms in this house, and I am confident that you will be far more comfortable there than you possibly could be at any hotel. Mrs. Warden, who is a motherly old body, and who remembers Clement well, will take the best of care of you, and I have arranged that your meals shall be sent across to you from the Brevoort. In regard to Clement's cable despatch, I am as much puzzled as you are. One of my young men has just returned from the office of the Inman Line, and reports that the _City of Paris_ sailed on her regular date, the 4th, and is due to arrive here on Wednesday next, the 11th. My young man was assured that no steamer belonging to any of the regular lines left Liverpool for this port on the 3d. The Cunard steamer _Samaria_ did leave Liverpool on the 3d, however, for Boston. It is possible, of course--since your original plan seems to have been that you and Clement should meet in Boston--that he has sailed in the _Samaria_. But I do not think that this is probable. The _Samaria_ is a much slower boat than the _City of Paris_, and I think that even Clement would perceive that by sailing in her he would lose time instead of gaining it. Frankly, my dear Mrs. Markham, I think that Clement simply has mixed things up in his despatch by writing "today" when he meant "to-morrow." Bless his dear old heart! he always did have a faculty for getting things wrong, you know. I decidedly advise you, therefore, to come down to New York on the 10th, as you have already arranged. I observe that you speak of the White Mountain Express as coming in at Jersey City. This is a mistake: it arrives at the Forty-second Street Station. Bear this fact in mind, please; and I advise you to write on a card--which you had better have easily accessible in your pocket-book--Mrs. Warden's address, No. 68 Clinton Place. Then, should I miss you in the crowd at the station, or should any other mischance occur in regard to our meeting, you will know where to tell your driver to take you, and where to send your trunks. Do not fear that any such untoward accident will occur: it is only professional prudence that leads me to provide for every contingency that may arise. As a further precautionary measure (we lawyers are full of precautionary measures, you know), please telegraph me from Littleton on the morning that you leave. XIV. Mrs. Clement Markham to Mr. Hubert Van Cortlandt, New York: Littleton, September 9th.