
          Paris 9th July 1823


 Dear Torrey,


 As I suppose I must call you
 still, tho' I cannot help telling you, as I know you
 would tell me under the same circumstances, that
 I have begun to suspect lately that you care very
 little what I call you or whether I address you at all.
 If this is really the case, pray burn this before you
 read any further, for I should be sorry to trouble any
 one with my nonsense, particularly one who cares
 nothing about me.


 In the first place I was [provoked?] Disappointed
 [added with caret: more than I can express] upon my return to Paris to hear nothing at
 all about the box I expected from New York. DeKay
 has probably shown you the letter I wrote at that
 time when after making every inquiry here & at 
 Havre [crossed out: nothing] I could not even ascertain whether
 it had ever been sent, notwithstanding all the
 letters I had written & the particular [instructions?] I
 had given to friends whom I thought I could depend
 upon. What vexed & I may say grieved me most
 was not so much [added with caret: the loss of] the paltry box & its contents (though
 I had particular reasons for wishing to get it here)

        