work at the decorations for the ball-room, weaving wreaths and
arranging enormous bouquets very rapidly: we had such a wealth of
flowers to work with that our task was not difficult. The most
amusing part of the story is, however, that the ball took place in
my bed-room! A very pompous lady of my acquaintance always prefaces
the slenderest anecdote with these words, "And it happened in this
wise," so I think I shall avail myself of the _tour de phrase_.

It happened in this wise, then:-a large well-proportioned room had
been added to the house lately; it was intended for a drawing-room,
but for some reason has only been used as a: spare bed-room, but as
it may possibly return to its original destination, very little
bed-room furniture has been put in it, and many of its belongings
are appropriate to a sitting-room. We called in the servants, the
light cane bedstead was soon deposited under the shade of a tree in
the garden, the washing-stand was similarly disposed of, and an
hour's work with hammer and nails and a ball of string turned the
room into a perfect bower of ferns and flowers: great ingenuity was
displayed in the arrangement of lights, and the result was a very
pretty ball-room.

We are always eating in this country, so you will not be surprised
to hear that there was yet another meal to be disposed of before we
separated to dress in all sorts of nooks and corners. White muslin
was the universal costume, as it can be packed flat and smooth. My
gown had been carried over by F--- in front of his saddle in a very
small parcel: I covered it almost entirely with sprays of the
light-green stag's-head, moss, and made a wreath of it also for my
hair. I think that with the other ladies roses were the most
popular decoration, and they looked very fresh and nice. I was the