I fulfil my promise by sending you the photo of my sister Kate,
that you said you liked! I _think_ it's the same. I hope you'll
excuse it being so soiled, but it's the only one I have--the fact
is, the Baby [her brother Fred] seized it, as it lay upon the
table waiting to be put into a cover, and has nearly bitten it to
pieces.
I came up from Bradford, in Yorkshire, on Monday last, where I
had spent a week with Papa and Polly, and I can't tell you,
Leslie, how cold it was. I intend going to Kent Villa, as soon as
possible. I've promised Alice a song of Mrs. Tom Taylor's and
have not sent it to her yet, "Better late than never," tho' I
really have been busy.
With my best regards,
Sincerely yours,
NELLY WATTS.
Those were delightful days spent with delightful companions. Lewis
Carroll was sometimes a member of the pleasant coterie which met at
our house in those days. My sister Beatrice was one of his greatest
child friends, and although he always sent his MSS. for her to read,
he disliked any mention of his fame as an author, and would abruptly
leave the presence of any one who spoke about his books. The public
at that time were in complete ignorance of the real identity of Lewis
Carroll. Later in life, when I wished to make a cartoon of Mr. Dodgson
for _Vanity Fair_, he implored me not to put him in any paper.
Naturally, I was obliged to consent, but _Vanity Fair_ extorted some
work from his pen as a compromise. He was a clever amateur
photographer, and in my mother's albums there are photographs taken by
him of several members of the Terry family, together with some of us.
* * * * *
Mrs. Cameron was famous in those days as an amateur photographer, and
she took photographs of all the leading people of the day. Watts and
Tennyson were among her intimates, and most celebrities of the day
knew her by sight. She was a very little old lady--I remember being in
a shop (where some of her photographs were on view) with my young
brother, who was a beautiful boy, when Mrs. Cameron entered. She
caught sight of Russell, and could not take her eyes from his face. At
last she said, "I want to know who the little boy is with you," and
seemed very interested. I told her who we were, whereupon she asked if
I thought my parents would allow him to sit to her. Of course they
were delighted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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