"Our stay at Sinaja, which, if the weather holds good, we shall prolong for another four weeks, suits us excellently. The life here is pleasant and unconstrained; every day brings fresh interests. A bevy of young girls adds much liveliness to our circle; in addition to the lately appointed maid of honour, Mlle. Valeanu, we recently had seven young ladies to dinner, with a dance and round games in the evening. Even nonsense refreshes the mind, and it was a real benefit to us all to let ourselves go. We made Costa-Foru dance and D. Ghika played with us. This is a very different matter from sitting head over ears in work. Until to-day it would have been impossible to accuse me of playing with my present and former Ministers, and hence it is a real satisfaction to me to have done so in Sinaja. Moreover, our stay here is of great benefit to us in many ways: it brings us into closer contact with people than would be possible in the city, where everything is red tape; we have also had the pleasant experience that, in spite of the difficulty of communication, everybody seems delighted to come here. We have had numerous visitors even from Moldavia.... "On September 8 our little Marie will be two years old, but she might easily pass for three, for her mental and physical development is far more mature than that of most children of two years old. You ought to see my little daughter now, my dear parents. You would certainly take as great a pleasure in her as we do ourselves; she already speaks three languages--Roumanian, German, and, above all, English; is very independent, runs about alone, calls everybody by his proper name, and on Sundays goes to the chapel of the Monastery, where she keeps quite quiet during the service. Her character is amiable and gentle; she obeys every order, and gives up all her little possessions with pleasure." * * * * * The birthday of the little Princess was celebrated in the same way as the year before, with the ceremony of breaking a cake over her little fair head, and with serenades, and fireworks. The childlike grace and charm with which her Serene Highness accepted the homage captivated all hearts. _To the_ GERMAN CROWN PRINCE, _October 8th, 1872_.