loving
BARRIE,
Who hopes she hasn't bored you.

LETTER FROM BARRIE TO SOMERLED

DEAR SIR KNIGHT: I must write to tell you what a surprise
I had in Aberdeen. Basil took us all to a biograph theatre--the
first one I ever saw--and one set of pictures was labelled, 'A
Gretna Green Wedding of the Olden Days.' How my heart beat!--and
not for nothing, because, oh, Sir Knight, it was _our_ wedding! My
face never showed once, but the hair looked like mine; and _your_
face was just like yours and nobody else's, in spite of the
old-fashioned costume. Basil said out loud, 'By Jove!' and the
Vannecks recognized you, and asked all sorts of questions. I had to
tell them the story, but I didn't mind a bit. In fact, I think I
was proud. The pictures were coloured, so perhaps that was one
reason they guessed, for my hair was so red. I told Basil I always
wanted to be married at Gretna Green, and now I _have_ been. But he
had the air of being rather _shocked_. I shouldn't have thought he
was that kind of person.

Afterward, he was afraid that he had offended me; but I hadn't
cared at all. However, he has been kinder than ever since, as if to
make up. Walking about in the Cathedral next day, we met a
delightful man, actually the _Head of a Clan_, who had been in
Canada and had known Basil there. He invited us to visit at his
place near Aboyne, on Deeside--just think, not far from where
Macbeth was killed!--and of course that enchanted Mrs. Vanneck, who
has an insatiable yearning to see the inside of Scottish houses.
His is a beautiful house. I must tell you about it. Maybe you
remember the road from Aberdeen to Aboyne, through lovely forests
and mountains, and how by and by you come to Deeside, and the
Grampians. The Chieftain we went to visit owns a whole mountain,
and many miles of land besides; and when you arrive at his estate
there are no gates to drive into. You wind on and on, along an
exquisite avenue through the woods, and you would not know you were
on any one's property if you hadn't been told beforehand, though it
is all beautifully kept--not too smart and trim, but just right to
be picturesque and romantic. There's no impression of 'This is
mine, not yours. _You_ are here only on sufferance!' Instead, the
trees and hills and heather seem