a frenzy of passionate love letters were sent to Lady Emily.
Ned was a promising architect but no match for the daughter of the Earl of Lytton.
Proposals were made.
The marriage forbidden.
Proposals were reconsidered.
Financial statements were submitted.
Love was accepted.
Lady Emily became the bride of Ned Lutyens.
Not surprising, Lutyens expressed his undying devotion to the Lady in architectural details.
"the Casket" was a gift from the heart to Lady Emily Lytton. Designed in Lutyens' distinctive classical style an olivine leather adorned with the Lady's initials held secret compartments for tokens of his affection.
The box held the hopes of and dreams of the young Ned and Emily:
a crucifix designed by Lutyens
a heart
an anchor
and finally
a small 4 inch square detailed drawing of' the little white house' the pair dreamed of building one day.
Edwin Landseer Lutyens, often referred to as Britain's greatest architect, married Lady Emily Lytton in 1897.
The marriage produced five children.
The intellectually frustrated Emily found solace in Theosophy*.
Ned Lutyens went on to become The architect of his age, Sir Edwin Lutyens, working in the Arts and Crafts style and incorporating Classicism into his over 300 public spaces, country homes and monuments.
The 'little white house' the couple had dreamed of building never materialized.
*the doctrine of religious philosophy and metaphysics.
