234—to Thomas Moore
Friday noon.
I should have answered your note yesterday, but I hoped to have seen you this morning. I
must
consult with you about the day we dine with Sir Francis
. I
suppose
we shall meet at Lady Spencer's
to-night. I
did
not know that you were at Miss Berry's
the other night, or I should have certainly gone there.
As usual, I am in all sorts of scrapes, though none, at present, of a martial description.
Believe me, etc.
Footnote 1:
Probably with Sir Francis Burdett, at 77, Piccadilly.
Footnote 2:
Grandmother of Lady Caroline Lamb.
Footnote 3:
Mary Berry (1763-1852), the friend and editor of Horace Walpole, whom she might have married, lived at Little Strawberry Hill, and in North Audley Street, London. In her
Journal
Miss Berry mentions two occasions on which she met Byron. The first was Thursday, April 2, 1812, at Lord Glenbervie's.
"I had a quarter of an hour's conversation, which, I own, gave me a great desire to know him better, and he seemed willing that I should do so."
The second occasion was May 7, 1812.
"At the end of the evening I had half an hour's conversation with Lord Byron, principally on the subject of the Scotch Review, with which he is very much pleased. He is a singular man, and pleasant to me but I very much fear that his head begins to be turned by all the adoration of the world, especially the women"
(
Journal and Correspondence of Miss Berry
, vol. ii. pp. 496, 497).
