Letter from Anne Élisabeth Laurence de Montmorency-Fosseux, Princesse de Bauffremont-Courtenay, Brienne-le-Château, to Amédée-David, comte de Pastoret, 1853 : autograph manuscript signed.

Saying she's asking all her correspondents to write to her without the expectation of a prompt response because she's in a large castle in a state of great disorder and does not know precisely where all their belongings are. They'll be busy for a few weeks before they can really enjoy their new abode. She goes on to describe the many wonderful features of the castle, which does not need many repairs. She hopes Pastoret will come visit. They have to make up their minds before October to live a solitary life there. Their son Gontran and his wife are as happy as she and Theodore are, and she hopes her daughter will like the castle as well. She wishes her son, who died at age 17 in 1842, could live there, too. She has kept a bedroom with all his belongings to surround her when she goes in. She says that there are unfortunate events in life that cannot be erased or about which one cannot even stop thinking. Speaking of the death of a boy named Antonin and wonders if the mother can find consolation. Says that judging from his letter, he, too, is in the country, but too close to Paris to be able to rest.