Dante Gabriel Rossetti letter to Ellen Heaton, 1863 August 1

Rossetti apologizes for his delayed response; he has been in Brighton for two days. Rossetti admits he sent Heaton's drawing without a case (which had gone missing) and trusted his frame-maker to pack it carefully. Rossetti regrets that he will not have the two additional figures included in his picture by the end of the following week, as he has many earlier deadlines for other works. Rossetti apologizes if this means that Heaton will not be able to view the work before she leaves London but says that he can give her an idea of its arrangement by sending her a pen and ink sketch of what he proposes. The two additional figures would be "2 dark girls harping." Rossetti thinks that decisions regarding the work should be postponed until it is more advanced. In any case, he "might possibly be beginning a Beatrice if a model turned up." Rossetti asks Heaton how she likes his new writing paper (which features Rossetti's crest, monogram and Cheyne Walk address).