ceremonial part of her life in her mind at the time, for she was writing to their old friend, Baron Stockmar, a pretty touching letter, saying, “I feel very lonely without my dear Master; and though I know other people are often separated for a few days, I feel habit could not get me accustomed to it. This, I am sure, you cannot blame. Without him everything loses its interest.... It will always be a terrible pang to separate from him, even for two days; and I pray God never to let me survive him.” In the last words there is indeed a note of pathos which, in view of the long and lonely widowhood of the Queen, cannot fail to touch the hearts of her home-loving people. At the beginning of August the Court circle was again happily reunited at Osborne, the King and Queen of the Belgians being of the company. The Queen then decided to proceed on a quiet yachting cruise along the south coast of England, and accordingly the Royal yacht, with the Royal Family, and accompanied by the _Fairy_ and the _Eagle_, on the 18th of August left the island and steamed westward. The weather, however, was far from propitious, for it blew more than half a gale when, on the 19th, the little pleasure squadron rode out the storm in Portland Roads. Prince Albert cannot have enjoyed this part of the trip, for the “lop” in the Channel was not at all to his liking. In a letter, replying evidently to some allusions to the disagreeableness of the voyage, Lord Aberdeen, writing from Haddo House, says to the Prince, though content with life in that far-off northern solitude, “I confess that in reading of her Majesty’s progress, I have sometimes wished to find myself on the Royal yacht, even off the Race of Portland.”[60] When the Royal party arrived at Portland Roads the sea was so rough, and the wind was blowing so hard, that at first it was feared they could not land. Ultimately, they did get ashore, and a salute from the Nothe battery warned the town of their arrival. There was great excitement among the people, who gave their visitors a warm welcome. Her Majesty is reported to have looked fresh and well, but the poor Prince, her consort, bore traces in his pale face of having suffered a good deal. On the 19th, however, the party, including Lord Spencer, Lord Alfred Paget, Baron Stockmar, the Hon. Ann Napier, and Lady Jocelyn, sailed away in fair weather to Devonport. They drove to Astonbury, the seat of the Earl of Ilchester--then absent in the south of France--to see his lovely grounds and curious swannery, and subsequently went on to Weymouth, the Queen again giving orders that she desired as little fuss as possible to be made about her visit. She landed at the steps which had always been used for that purpose by George III. The country folk, through whose villages they passed, despite Lord Alfred Paget’s assurances, refused to believe that such a quiet and unassuming party of tourists included the Queen and her Court. A pleasant time was passed as they skimmed over the