n the 8th.
Your visit will, I fear, have been a very melancholy one. Poor Mme.
Adelaide's death was so extremely sudden, it must be a dreadful blow
to the poor King. I _have_ written to him. Louise will have told you
that poor Aunt Sophia[4] is decidedly sinking.

I wish, dearest Uncle, if even Louise feels unequal to coming to us
now (which would be a _sad disappointment_), _you_ would come to see
us. Why not come while she is at Paris? It would be such a pleasure to
us. You will of course have no balls, and you might come even sooner
than you originally intended. Pray do see if you could manage this. I
am sure you could. If Louise could come, of course that would be still
better.

Albert desires me to ask you the following favour, viz. if you
would give us the picture that is here of Grand Uncle Frederic (the
Field-Marshal), that we might hang it up in London, where we have made
a fine collection of his contemporaries, and we would replace it by
a faithful copy, which could be hung up in the frame here. Will you
grant this?

We are very desirous of getting the Woods and Forests to build a small
_glass dome_ to the greenhouse here where the palm-trees are, and (if
you approved) there could be no difficulty in getting this done; the
palm-trees are beautiful, and will be quite stunted and spoilt if not
allowed to grow. We shall stay here till Monday next. With Albert's
love, ever your truly devoted Niece,

VICTORIA R.

[Footnote 4: Fifth daughter of George III., born 1777. She
died in May 1848.]

[Pageheading: THE FRENCH ROYAL FAMILY]

_The King of the Belgians to Queen Victoria._

LAEKEN, _12th January 1848._

MY DEAREST VICTORIA,--A messenger of my own going to England, I take
advantage of it to write you a few words. Your kind letter to the
poor King was an act for which I thank you from the bottom of my soul,
because it made him so happy. I was still in his rooms--where the
family has been breakfasting and dining till now--when your letter
arrived; he was so delighted with it that he _kissed it most
tenderly_. I left him tolerably well on Monday, but with rather a
severe cold. He had certainly at the end of December the Grippe,
which perhaps was the immediate cause of poor Aunt's death, as from
over-anxiety for her beloved brother, she got up in the night to find
out how he was. His cold had been better when he went to Dreux, then
he met the procession, and walked with it bareheaded to th