Lady Layard -- 19 februari 1871

[Madrid] Sunday. 19th. I went to church but not Henry. Directly after lunch we sent the carriage for Clarita who came here & I put her mantilla on for her & gave her a red camelia to put in it & also put on my own mantilla with a red camelia– I told Giovanni to get them in the morng not having the slightest idea they cost 2 pesetas (80d) each. We went off with Henry in the carriage & called for Conchita Figueras & took her with us to drive in the Prado to see the Carnaval masquerading. One or two masks spoke to us & we stayed till late. The sun having been very hot it turned cold at sunset & we were glad to get home– While I was dressing for dinner the Serrano children arrived to show us their masking dress. Conchita in maize moiré with marguerites, Venturita in grey moiré with tiny pink roses & Pepita in white moiré over red velvet—a lovely dress which was given her by her grandmother & was made at the principal modiste Auguste’s. They were all in long dress with their hair powdered & looked very pretty. Besides Messrs Ash, Sey, Go, Ff: & Spen: we had Sir Philip Woodehouse & a Sir Thomas Dick Lauder & his friend Mr Kendall to dinner & Mr Scott who had come from the Lisbon Legation with despatches. Sir T & Mr K. are nice young men travelling for their pleasure. They left early & I was tired & glad to go to bed–

* Dagboek van Lady Layard (1843-1912)

Lady Layard werd geboren als Mary Enid Evelyn Guest. Op 25-jarige leeftijd trouwde ze met haar toen 51-jarige neef Henry Layard, een beroemde Britse archeoloog, later diplomaat in Spanje en Turkije. Na haar dood liet ze een zeer waardevolle kunstverzameling na aan de British National Gallery.