As the second division expected to remain some weeks at Aranjuez, they were billeted as usual on the inhabitants; and the long arrears of pay having been received, they were enabled to make themselves tolerably comfortable. The officers of the Highlanders having so much loose cash on their hands, determined to get rid of it as soon as possible, by giving a splendid ball to the ladies of Aranjuez and the officers of the division. A committee was appointed to arrange matters, despatch the invitations, and get the palace, which had been procured for the purpose, duly fitted up and decorated. In this princely and spacious building the Supreme Junta of the Spanish government were installed, and held their first meeting in 1808. Joseph Buonaparte occupied it previously to his retreat to Valencia, and a great quantity of his household stuffs, crystal, &c. were found in it, very opportunely, and seized by the committee to equip the supper tables. From Madrid some thousand variegated lamps were procured to illuminate the gardens and avenues leading to the palace, and nearly twelve hundred oil paintings, many of them by the best ancient and modern masters, were collected from different parts of the building, and hung up in the suites of apartments appropriated to the festivities. The troops entered on the 1st of October,—the ball was to be on the night of the twentieth, and of course all the unmarried ladies of Aranjuez were in a flutter,—nay, in fact, in a state of extreme excitement about the affair. The ball, the ball to be given by the Scottish officers, was the only subject discussed at the _soirées_, _tertulias_, and parties at the houses of the citizens: at the Prado, and in the _cafés_ and _tabernas_ in the town. The committee, which consisted of Captain Seaton, Macdonald, and Ronald Stuart, usually met every evening in the palace, to send off the invitations and discuss some of King Joseph’s wine. "I must send one of these to the young ladies of my billet," said Alister on one occasion, as they sat writing, folding, and sealing the cards at an open window, where they were luxuriating in the fragrant perfume of the gardens, smoking cigars, and sipping Volnais. "They are both young and pretty," continued Alister, "but sadly curbed in by an old maiden aunt, who regards them as very dangerous rivals." "They are likely to prove so," said Seaton, the captain of the light company; "the girls have superb eyes and teeth. In this capital Volnais I drink to their healths, and that of the ex-king of Spain, to whom we are so much indebted for assisting us with our entertainment, by leaving his ’gudes and gear’ behind him." "Here is the name of the Condé de Truxillo," observed Macdonald, consulting the invitation-list. "Seaton, no notice appears as yet to have been sent him."