Permit me, Madam, to trouble you with this
Letter which I should not have taken the Liberty of writing
to you, had I not conceived it in some degree necessary –
for my Justification – M^r Larie has just communicated
to my your Message, & he has also been so kind as to
inform me of the Opinion you entertain of my having –
requested your Permission to wait on you at Guildford – I
am bound to submit to your Determination, but I cannot
help feeling some Anxiety that you should not form it
upon a Part of my Conduct which if it was improper I
can declare upon my Honour was [deleted] unintentionally so
I confess to you that upon so slight an Acquaintance
as I had with you I think that it was a very improper Request
& it struck me as such immediately upon my leaving you
when I had leisure to reflect – But if you will have
[new page]
the Goodness to recollect that it was at the very Moment
I was leaving you, & that in all Probability I was about to
be deprived of any further Opportunity of cultivating an
Acquaintance which Change had favored me with, I flatter
myself that you will think the unguarded Expression I made
use of in some degree pardonable – At the same Time
I declare to you that when I made this Request my sole
Intention was that I might have the Pleasure of continuing an
Acquaintance with you – That I could mean no more
you Must I trust be sensible from my not having availed
myself of your Answer by any further Application – From
my being almost totally a Stranger to you, it may perhaps
be unnecessary for me to add, that it was not in my Power
to mean or intend any thing further without the Sanction
of my Father, whose previous Consent it was my Duty as
well as Interest to obtain –
I have already trespassed too long on your Patience, but
[new page]
if I have said anything improper I trust you will attribute
it to my only Motive, the Anxiety I feel to justify myself.
I could yet wish that what has passed on my Part should
be forgot, & that it should not prevent my having the Pleasure
of renewing an Acquaintance the intire Loss of which I cannot
but regret & yet (tho’ I wish to use every Argument inn my Power
to obtain the Renewal of it) I feel that were it disagreeable
to you, it could afford me no Pleasure – still I must appeal
to your own good sense that it is hard to deprive me
of your Esteem before you could have [deleted] {^had sufficient Grounds to form} an opinion whether
I was undeserving of it.
I hope I shall not be thought presuming if you I request
that you would have the Goodness to intimate to M^r Larie
that you have received this Letter.
I remain, with every Wish for your
Happiness, Madam, your very faithful
Humble Servant
W^m Grey
Grays’ Inn 31^st Oct 1787

Permit me, Madam, to trouble you with this
Letter which I should not have taken the Liberty of writing
to you, had I not conceived it in some degree necessary –
for my Justification – M^r Larie has just communicated
to my your Message, & he has also been so kind as to
inform me of the Opinion you entertain of my having –
requested your Permission to wait on you at Guildford – I
am bound to submit to your Determination, but I cannot
help feeling some Anxiety that you should not form it
upon a Part of my Conduct which if it was improper I
can declare upon my Honour was [deleted] unintentionally so
I confess to you that upon so slight an Acquaintance
as I had with you I think that it was a very improper Request
& it struck me as such immediately upon my leaving you
when I had leisure to reflect – But if you will have
[new page]
the Goodness to recollect that it was at the very Moment
I was leaving you, & that in all Probability I was about to
be deprived of any further Opportunity of cultivating an
Acquaintance which Change had favoured me with, I flatter
myself that you will think the unguarded Expression I made
use of in some degree pardonable – At the same Time
I declare to you that when I made this Request my sole
Intention was that I might have the Pleasure of continuing an
Acquaintance with you – That I could mean no more
you Must I trust be sensible from my not having availed
myself of your Answer by any further Application – From
my being almost totally a Stranger to you, it may perhaps
be unnecessary for me to add, that it was not in my Power
to mean or intend any thing further without the Sanction
of my Father, whose previous Consent it was my Duty as
well as Interest to obtain –
I have already trespassed too long on your Patience, but
[new page]
if I have said anything improper I trust you will attribute
it to my only Motive, the Anxiety I feel to justify myself.
I could yet wish that what has passed on my Part should
be forgot, & that it should not prevent my having the Pleasure
of renewing an Acquaintance the entire Loss of which I cannot
but regret & yet (though I wish to use every Argument inn my Power
to obtain the Renewal of it) I feel that were it disagreeable
to you, it could afford me no Pleasure – still I must appeal
to your own good sense that it is hard to deprive me
of your Esteem before you could have [deleted] {^had sufficient Grounds to form} an opinion whether
I was undeserving of it.
I hope I shall not be thought presuming if you I request
that you would have the Goodness to intimate to M^r Larie
that you have received this Letter.
I remain, with every Wish for your
Happiness, Madam, your very faithful
Humble Servant
W^m Grey
Grays’ Inn 31^st Oct 1787