FLORIAN - The Most Traveled Man on Earth

Your Marguerite
[Continuation of the letter, written by Laura, the eldest daughter, 18 years old.]
I was extremely mortified, my dear Papa, to learn by your last letter of March 3 that you
had not received any of my letters, although I have written you many times. Mama will
doubtless have told you that I am no longer with Madame Davidson, and that I live
entirely with Mama at home now. She has been kind enough to engage Mr. Roselli for
Virginia and for me as a singing teacher. I also take lessons in the harp from Mrs.
Macnamara. Thus I hope that when we are in New Orleans, we shall be ready to teach.
We continually practice a great deal.
We were recently at a ball at the Argyle Rooms, where we were invited by the Count de
Barbe [Barole?]. 75 We were not without partners one single time, which makes us hope
that in New Orleans you will not be embarrassed by us. We had a very good time there,
but I will leave the details to Azelie, who is determined to be the first to tell you all about
it.
We have all been worried about Uncle Emanuel’s rheumatism, but we hope that one
month in May in the fine climate of Louisiana will have entirely cured him of his
suffering. Give him all the tenderest affection you can from me, and[ know] that he is a
thousand times more dear to us for the fine way he received you.
Doubtless Mamma must have told you of the news we have received from our aunt
Duault. 76 She wanted one of us to come and live with her. My God, if you had been here
instead of in America, how I should have loved to go to that country, to again see all my
aunts, and perhaps all the places you tell Mama about, where you passed such happy
moments. Believe me that our tastes and our pleasures are as simple as yours. 77 Without
you we find pleasure in nothing. We need to see you, to know your opinion in all things,
and we regret all the days that we must spend far from you.
How happy Eliza would be if she could add a little message of her own, at the end of this
letter. But she always charges us in hers to give you and Emmanuel a thousand and a
thousand kisses, and assurances without number of love and respect. I can only repeat to
you the same assurances on my part. You must know, my dear Papa, the infinite
tenderness of your daughter who loves you from the bottom of her heart.
Laura
[Continuation of the letter, written by Virginia, now 16 years old.]
75 <strong>The</strong>re is a Francoise, Marquis de Barbe-Marbois (1745—1837) who negotiated the Louisiana Purchase
with the United States. However, it seems unlikely that he would have been in London at the time.
76 This is Eugenie Florian Jolly Duault, sister of Jean-Baptiste Florian; still in France.
77 Here Laura is apparently reacting to a passage of the letter of March 3, in which Jean-Baptiste bemoans
the expensive taste of his daughters.
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