heart (what a
lot of hearts there were travelling about then!) and where now the
most curiously exciting things are the Bridie Shops. I _had_ to
know what a 'bridie' meant, so we stopped to see; but it's only a
rolled meat pasty they love in Forfarshire; and brides are supposed
to batten on them at their weddings. To please me, Basil would have
made a detour to see 'Thrums,' which is really Kerriemuir, you
know. And we should have had to pass through Forfar--the 'Witches
Har'--and go on the road that leads to mysterious, wonderful
Glamis. I was longing to do it, but Mrs. Vanneck wanted to arrive
in Aberdeen in time to do some shopping! I gave up like a lamb,
almost hating her inwardly; but afterward I felt better about it,
for the Aberdeen shops are so nice. They sell pink pearls, out of
Scottish rivers--perfect beauties. I bought you a brooch, and I do
hope you'll like it. I don't know much about such things; and of
course you have gorgeous jewellery; but this pearl is such a
wonderful colour, like snow touched with sunrise.

My eyes and hair were full of granite by the time we got to
Aberdeen, because the road is made of it, and the dust sparkles
like diamonds.

So does Aberdeen sparkle like diamonds. I shouldn't have thought a
city all gray like that, could be so handsome. But it is a gray
bright and silky as the wings of doves, and in some lights pale as
moonbeams. Sunset was beginning when we arrived, and on the houses
and bridges and river, and even on the pavements of the broad
streets, there was the same gray-pink sheen as on the pearl I
bought for you.

In the morning we went to see the University, and the Cathedral
with its lovely rose-pink pillars, and old painted Scandinavian
ceiling. Everything would have passed off charmingly, if Basil had
not begun to be rather foolish and unlike himself, while he and I
were in the Cathedral together. Fortunately, an old friend of his
he hadn't seen for years, appeared unexpectedly at the critical
moment, and invited us to visit him near Aboyne. I hadn't quite
time to say 'no' to Basil definitely, and we haven't gone back to
the subject since, so I am hoping for the best. I used to think it
would be _heavenly_ to have a proposal, but now, I realize that it
is much overrated.

Your