Considering a Reply (c1860). George Dunlop Leslie (1835-1921). Oil on panel. Private Collection.
Leslie was a British Neoclassicist and then pre-Raphaelite. Leslie was educated at Cary’s Academy and then the Royal Academy, exhibiting work at the RA continuously after 1857. He later moved to Wallingford-on-Thames and became a devoted gardener.
Leslie was noted for his depictions of idealized Victorian domesticity, such as this young girl in Considering a Reply .
Beeton’s Complete Letter Writer for Ladies and Gentlemen. “A Useful Companion of Epistolary Materials Gathered from the Best Sources and Adapted to Suit an Indefinite Number of Cases.” Published 1873 by Ward, Lock & Co. in London .
“Dear Mr. Cane:
While I am much flattered by the favorable impression I seem to have made upon you, I have never thought of you as a possible husband, although as an agreeable partner at a ball I like you very much. To speak frankly, I am certain never to care for you save as an acquaintance. I am afraid, in spite of your disclaimer to the contrary, that were it not for the accident of my prospective wealth, you would not have thought of proposing to me…”