Written from Peckham, the home of Sir Thomas Grymes, the husband of
Donne's sister Jane. As the time of Donne's ordination (January, 1615)
approached, he applied to several friends, Lady Bedford ("the Countess")
and the Countess of Huntingdon ("the other Countess") among them, to help
him pay his debts before making his "valediction to the world." Lady
Bedford sent him £30; the Countess of Huntingdon responded even more
liberally. Six verse letters to Lady Bedford and two to Lady Huntingdon
are printed in Donne's Poems (ed. Chambers).