1865 Dec 20, on Cheyne Walk letterhead; I regret having accepted the story which you assure me is untrue. Surely neither Ruskin nor any artists will disbelieve you. "As to Mr Mendel -- if his retaining the picture or not depends on anything but his own liking for it, he must be but a weak vessel." I myself will take any price I can get . I will investigate the source of the tale. MUTILATED: signature cut out with loss of text; TEARING at corners of cut. NOTE: DGR had sold his The Blue Bower to Gambart for 200 guineas, and boasted in November that it had been re-sold (to Sam Mendel of Manchester, a Manchester textile merchant) for 1500 guineas. Gambart complained that this was private information, that the re-sale figure was exaggerated, that the gossip had alienated Ruskin and was bad for business. (See Maas pp 185-188, Surtees 178.) Docketed. Tearing.