wife at Pencarrow.

_To Mrs. Henry Reeve_

Birk Hall, Ballater, September 1st.

My dearest wife,--Matters have turned out here very pleasantly. I proceeded
to Aboyne by rail, and then posted along the Dee-side to this place--the
Strath most beautiful; a lovely mixture of wood, water, and heather, with
mountains beyond. I got here just before six, and found the Clarks and Van
de Weyers sitting down to an early dinner in order to go to the Gillies'
Ball at Balmoral, in honour of the Prince's birthday, to which I found
myself also invited. We drove up to the Castle, which is eight miles off,
through a fine wooded glen, in the moonlight. The old house of Balmoral has
quite disappeared, and the Castle is now a very fine edifice, decorated in
excellent taste. On arriving, we waited in the library, where arrived Lady
John Russell and her boys, the Farquharsons of Invercauld, young Peel
[Footnote: Robert Kennedy Peel; son of Lady Alice and Colonel Peel, who had
been Secretary of State for War in the Derby Ministry of 1858-9.] (Lady
A.'s son), the William Russells, the Duke of Argyll--and then the Court.
Nobody was in mourning, as it was a birthday; the Queen in white, with a
floating sash of Royal Stuart tartan from her shoulders: about half the men
in kilts. The Queen made a circle, and then we went into the ball-room,
where about a hundred and fifty of the tenants, servants, &c., with their
wives and daughters, were assembled. Reels then began, which were danced
with great energy, and also jigs--very droll. Prince Arthur danced like
mad; and Princess Alice was 'weel ta'en out' by the gamekeeper. I stood
in a corner talking with the Duke of Argyll, &c. At last the Prince came
round, and conversed very courteously for ten minutes. He had heard I
had been in Germany lately, so we soon got into the heart of German and