The journey from Killin to Comrie was most beautiful, and through such wild scenery—Glen Ogle, which of course Lord Melbourne knows—and then along Loch Ern. This house is quite a cottage, but the situation is fine, and the garden very beautiful. We leave this on Tuesday for Dalkeith83 where we sleep, and re-embark the next day for England. We greatly admire the extreme beauty of Edinburgh; the situation as well as the town is most striking; and the Prince, who has seen so much, says it is the finest town he ever saw. Scone Palace (where we slept on Tuesday night) is fine, but gloomy; Perth is beautiful.
The Queen hopes Lord Melbourne is very well. The Prince begs to be remembered to him.
Dalkeith is a fine good house, and the park and grounds very pretty.
Footnote 81: The seat of Lord Willoughby d'Eresby.
Footnote 82: It should be written Auchmore.
Footnote 83: The seat of the Duke of Buccleuch.
Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians.
Windsor Castle, 20th September 1842.
My dearest Uncle,—Pray accept my best thanks for your kind letter of the 15th, which I received on Saturday, the day of our arrival here. Dearest Louise will have told you what I wrote to her. We had a speedy and prosperous voyage home of forty-eight hours, on board a fine large and very fast steamer, the Trident, belonging to the General Steam Navigation Company. We found our dear little Victoria so grown and so improved, and speaking so plain, and become so independent; I think really few children are as forward as she is. She is quite a dear little companion. The Baby is sadly backward, but also grown, and very strong. I am so distressed about dearest Louise's still coughing, but she tells me it is decreasing. Only pray let her give way to her grief; much crying, even if it makes her cough for the moment, can do her no real harm, but stifling and swallowing grief (which she cannot repress) gnaws at the very roots of life and undermines health. Ostend and sea-baths would, I should think, do her good.
I am very glad that you went to see the King of Prussia, and saw so many old friends; Fritz of Mecklenburg84 is, you know, Albert's very dear friend; he is just arrived here.