my dearest Benjamin

99 Cheswick Terrace,
London
July 19, 1879


Dearest Benjamin,

I hope you know how very dear you are to me. Even when you're gone, it seems as if you are here... the desk I write to you upon, the scent of that perfume you sent me from Paris, that darling brooch we saw that rainy afternoon which even now rests upon my bosom, close by my heart...

All these souvenirs and more remind me every day of how special our feelings for each other are, dear. I treasure you, Benjamin, and it is because of this very special understanding that I wanted you to be the first to know that next Sunday noon, I am to be wed to Lord Willnot Huxtable III at St. Twittery's of the Field (reception to follow).

Willy too is very dear to me too, Benjamin, but in a different way. Some may call him feeble, but he has danced the slippers off my feet more than once and has more spirit and vitality than many men a quarter his age!

I hope you will be happy for me. I know our closeness has sometimes confused us both, but you have been a perfect gentleman during our acquaintance. If there is a "tail" to be pinned, dear, then I must be the one to wear it.

What we share, and I hope shall always our the memories of a very special time and two (dare I say?) very special people.

With warmest regrards,
(Lady) Elspeth LaRue

*