e earnestly hopes that your Majesty will dismiss from your mind any
apprehension, and sincerely believes that your Majesty may do so with
entire confidence. But nothing shall be neglected.

[Pageheading: THE COMET]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _28th March 1843._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--I had the pleasure of receiving your kind letter of
the 24th, on Sunday. How lucky you are to have seen the comet![28] It
is distinctly _to be seen_ here, and _has been seen_ by many people,
but we have till now looked out in vain for it. We shall, however,
persevere.

We left dear Claremont with great regret, and since our return have
been regaled with regular March winds, which, however, have not kept
me from my daily walks. To-day it is finer again.

It is most kind and good of dearest Albert to hold these Levees for
me, which will be a great relief for hereafter for me. Besides _cela
le met dans sa position_; _he_ and _I_ must be _one_, so that I can
_only be represented_ by _him_. I think this, therefore, a good thing
for that reason also; and God knows, he, dear angel, _deserves_ to be
the _highest_ in _everything_.

Our Consecration went off extremely well, and the Chapel is
delightful, and so convenient. I am sure you will like it.

You will be glad to hear that dear old Eos (who is still at Claremont)
is going on most favourably; they attribute this sudden attack to her
over-eating (she steals whenever she can get anything), living in too
warm rooms, and getting too little exercise since she was in London.
Certainly her wind was _not_ in the _slightest_ degree affected by
her accident, for in the autumn she coursed better than all the other
young dogs, and ran and fetched pheasants, etc., from any distance,
and ran about the very evening she was taken so ill, as if nothing was
the matter. Evidently part of her lungs must be _very_ sound still;
and they say _no one's_ lungs are _quite sound_. She must be well
starved, poor thing, and not allowed to sleep in beds, as she
generally does.

[Footnote 28: Its appearance gave rise to much discussion
among astronomers. On the 17th Sir John Herschel saw its
nucleus from Collingwood in Kent, and on the following night
a dim nebula only; so it was probably receding with great
velocity.]

[Pageheading: MELBOURNE ON DIET]

_Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

BROCKET HALL, _2nd April 1843._

Lord Melbo