She continued her
applications, however, casting an eye on her list.
"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.
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