The Queen and Lord M Page 4

  She was sealing the letters when Lord Melbourne arrived.

  ‘I will receive him as I intend to receive all my ministers … alone.’ she said.

  As soon as he came into the room she was aware of a lifting of her spirits. He was tall and very good-looking and because of the solemnity of the occasion he was in Court dress. She noticed the hair beginning to whiten at the temples, the thick dark eyebrows, the sensitive lips. He bowed and as she gave him her hand to kiss and he murmured ‘Your Majesty’, she saw that his eyes filled with tears and she was won immediately by those tears. She thought: He is beautiful and more than beautiful, he is good.

  ‘Your Majesty is kind to receive me at such an early hour.’ His eyes were expressing admiration, and she felt herself blushing. How she wished she could conquer that ridiculous childish habit – so absurd in a queen.

  ‘I wish to tell you, Lord Melbourne, that it is my intention to retain you and the rest of the present Ministry at the head of affairs.’

  He bowed his head, and how gracefully he did it. She was comparing him with Sir John Conroy. It was the contrast which struck her so forcibly. There could not be two men less alike.

  ‘And I am sure,’ she said warmly, ‘that it could not be in better hands.’

  ‘Your Majesty is gracious,’ he said, with the most beautiful smile which conveyed that while he was every bit as respectful as any subject could be to his Queen, he was secretly aware of her youth and inexperience and was ready to place himself entirely at her service. How fortunate I am, she thought, to have such a man at the head of affairs. My Prime Minister!

  ‘I have prepared the Declaration which Your Majesty will read to the Council. Would you like me to read it now so that you may give it your approval?’

  ‘That would please me very much, Lord Melbourne.’

  So he read the Declaration in his beautiful voice and she was sure that it was a fine Declaration and could not have been improved in any way. She told him so and it was apparent that they were delighted with each other.

  ‘Your Majesty would not wish to detain me longer so if I may have your permission to retire, I will call on you again this morning at eleven o’clock just before the Council meeting when Your Majesty may wish to speak to me on various matters.’

  She thought that was exactly what should be done and bowing, he took his leave. She noted the tears were in his eyes again as he left her.

  * * *

  When the Prime Minister had left she sat down and wrote a letter to Queen Adelaide. She wanted the Dowager Queen to know that she was not unmindful of past kindnesses. As she wrote she remembered the balls which Adelaide had arranged for her and which Mamma had not always allowed her to attend, and when they had been present there had often been unfortunate incidents for which Victoria had to admit the Duchess had been responsible. It was Adelaide who had presented her with the Big Doll, one of the most treasured members of her doll family, and had never forgotten to ask after her as though she felt, as Victoria did, that the doll was a living person. Those were matters which Victoria would never forget, so she wrote with gentle kindness towards her bereaved aunt as her loving niece, not as her Queen. But as she wrote her thoughts strayed continually to the man who had recently visited her and who would shortly be calling again. ‘My Prime Minister,’ she murmured.

  True to his word he came a quarter of an hour before the Council meeting was due to start in case there were any points on which she might wish to consult him. So thoughtful! Victoria assured herself.

  ‘Your Majesty!’ His bow was perfect, and yes, there were tears in his eyes once more as he regarded her.

  ‘It is so good of you, Lord Melbourne, to come again so soon.’

  ‘Your Majesty must know that it shall always be my pleasure as well as my duty to wait on your wishes.’

  ‘That is a great comfort. I am, I fear, rather young.’

  ‘Youth is the greatest of gifts. I pray you, Ma’am, don’t deplore it. You remember what Shakespeare said: “Youth I do adore thee. Age I do abhor thee.”’

  She did not remember; indeed had never heard the quotation; and she said so in spite of a temptation to pretend she had. She added that she thought this was one of the occasions when Shakespeare erred, for age often carried with it experience, and that seemed to her the greatest of gifts – if one made proper use of it, of course.

  ‘Your Majesty has wisdom as well as youth – an invincible combination,’ said the Prime Minister.

  What a delightful conversation! He made her feel clever rather than young and innocent; and that, of course, was exactly how she wanted to feel before facing her first Council meeting.

  She said: ‘Baron Stockmar called on me while I was at breakfast this morning.’

  Lord Melbourne’s beautifully arched eyebrows shot up. ‘So soon?’

  ‘He has always been a very good friend to me.’

  ‘And to your Uncle, the King of the Belgians.’

  ‘Precisely. He has offered his services as my Secretary. I have said that I will consider appointing him.’

  ‘Which was wisely diplomatic of Your Majesty, for I know you have decided that such an appointment would not be well received in the country nor by Your Majesty’s Government in view of the fact that although Baron Stockmar is a good friend to Your Majesty, he is a foreigner and known to be the devoted servant of a monarch of another country. Ah, King Leopold is your own uncle, but Your Majesty will realise that the people would imagine that with such a secretary, a foreign power would most certainly be having some effect on Your Majesty’s opinions.’

  ‘But this had not occurred to me.’

  Lord Melbourne’s smile was indulgent. ‘But it does now. I see Your Majesty has quickly grasped the significance such an appointment would have.’

  ‘Well, I do see now …’

  ‘Then I am sure you will agree that this matter of a Secretary may be temporarily shelved. I myself am at your service and could do all – and I daresay more – than a Secretary could do at this stage, so if Your Majesty will trust me …’

  Trust Lord Melbourne! With her life and crown if need be. She said with great feeling: ‘Oh, absolutely, Lord Melbourne.’

  He looked so moved that she felt she would betray her emotion so she said quickly: ‘Shall we run through the Declaration once more? I want to make certain that I do not disappoint them.’

  So they went through the Declaration until her two uncles, the Dukes of Cumberland and Sussex, arrived. It was a few minutes before eleven o’clock when they, with Lord Melbourne, conducted her to the red salon where the Council meeting was to be held.

  * * *

  All eyes were on her – this tiny eighteen-year-old girl who had only today become their Queen. Before the door had opened all those assembled in the red salon had been feeling a certain tension. She was too young, they feared. Moreover she had been brought up in the seclusion of Kensington Palace; she had rarely come to Court though it had been the wish of the late King that she should do so. She would be overwhelmed, bewildered; it was most unfortunate that William had not lived a year or so longer until the girl could have come to a greater maturity, or perhaps had been married and had a husband’s counsel to help her in a difficult task. But alas, she was barely eighteen. They could expect difficulties.

  Now she stood before them in her black bombazine dress, and although she was but eighteen – and certainly looked no older – she had all the appearance of a queen.

  She took her seat and the ceremony began. First the Privy Councillors were sworn in and there were a great many of them and they all must come and swear fealty to her. She found this very moving, particularly when her own uncles came to pay their homage. Uncle Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, had automatically become King of Hanover on the death of King William, for the salic law persisted in Hanover and the throne could therefore only pass to male heirs, which precluded Victoria from taking sovereignty there. Now that the King of Hanover must accept the fact that he coul
d not be King of England because the daughter of his elder brother had become the Queen, he no longer seemed the menacing old ogre he once had; he was merely an excessively ugly old man and Victoria greeted him warmly.

  All the time these proceedings were taking place, she was aware of Lord Melbourne’s eyes on her, kind, at first apprehensive but gradually becoming reassured, and finally proud.

  She glowed with pleasure. It was of the utmost importance to her that she did not disappoint Lord Melbourne.

  * * *

  She knew that those lords who had assembled in the red salon were astonished by her demeanour. They had waited in trepidation for a young girl and had found a queen. She was conscious of a power she had not thought possible. Could she have behaved with the same poise if she had not been primed by Lord Melbourne? Dear kind man! Already she owed him a great deal. How lucky that she had him for her Prime Minister. She would tell him so when she next saw him.

  She left the red salon, her uncles and Lord Melbourne following her, and there in the ante-room was her mother, her face flushed, her eyes brilliant, her jewels glittering and feathers shaking. The warm glow, which thinking of Lord Melbourne had engendered, faded. Victoria felt cool and aloof, but the Duchess was too excited to notice her daughter’s manner.

  ‘My love!’ she cried, seeking to embrace Victoria, ‘I am so proud of you.’

  Victoria dutifully allowed herself to be crushed against that superb bosom for a few seconds but she was thinking: Mamma will have to remember that I am the Queen.

  The Duchess was quivering with questions and advice. She wanted to carry off her daughter, advise her, warn her, in general lay before her the plans which she and Sir John had devised for the future. Victoria’s attitude of the past months might have prepared her for the difficulties she was facing, but the Duchess refused to accept this. Victoria was her child and she would always be so.

  ‘Thank you, Mamma,’ said Victoria coolly.

  ‘My darling, there is so much to talk about.’ The Duchess shot a glance at the Uncles and Lord Melbourne. Sir John had said: ‘Victoria must be warned against Melbourne. He is not on our side.’

  And there he was, thought the Duchess, taking charge, having paid two calls on Victoria already this morning although she had not been Queen more than half a day. Oh yes, Victoria must certainly be warned against Lord Melbourne.

  ‘Mamma,’ said Victoria, ‘am I really and truly Queen?’

  ‘But, my love, you have seen that you are.’

  ‘Then, Mamma, I hope you will grant the first request I make to you as Queen.’

  The Duchess’s smile was indulgent. A request? Some honour she was going to bestow on her dear Mamma in appreciation of all that had been done for her? ‘Dearest Mamma, I beg of you to accept …’ Now what would she be most likely to offer?

  ‘My love, I shall of course be delighted and now I suppose I should say honoured, for you are our little Queen, are you not? I shall be delighted to grant any request.’

  ‘Then, Mamma, let me be by myself for an hour.’

  The Queen passed on, leaving an astonished Duchess staring after her. Lord Melbourne was bowing to her with a slightly ironic smile on his handsome face.

  The Duchess was accustomed to scenes, having been responsible for many, but even she knew that this was not the moment to make one. The ingratitude! she was thinking. How could she … a daughter of mine!

  But Victoria was the Queen now and capable of anything.

  * * *

  In Victoria’s room Lehzen was waiting for her.

  ‘I was a success, Lehzen,’ she cried. ‘All those men were expecting me to blush and stammer and show my fear of this great responsibility, but I did no such thing. I showed them quite clearly that having for so long been accustomed to the idea of being Queen, I know exactly how to act.’

  ‘As I always said you would.’

  ‘And I have just spoken to Mamma.’

  Lehzen was alert. It would never do for the Duchess to gain ascendancy over Victoria for that would mean that Lehzen was relegated to the background.

  ‘Do you realise, Lehzen, that all my life I have never been in a room alone?’

  ‘It was the Duchess’s orders that you should not be.’

  ‘I know, and we had to accept it. Now, Lehzen, I do not have to accept anything. I might decide to, if Lord Melbourne desired it, but that is a very different matter. So I told Mamma that I had a request to make which was that I be allowed to be alone for an hour.’

  ‘And the Duchess agreed—?’

  ‘My dear Lehzen, how could she do otherwise? I am the Queen.’

  Lehzen could take a hint. It would never do for her to become a nuisance.

  ‘I understand your feelings,’ she said. ‘It is so natural that you should wish to be alone. You will have so much to think about. So I will leave you to yourself.’

  If she were hoping for a protest she did not get it. This was indeed the Queen.

  Lehzen shut the door quietly and Victoria looked blissfully about the room.

  ‘Alone!’ she said aloud. ‘For the first time in my life.’

  * * *

  It would not be for long, she knew, as her Ministers would soon begin to arrive and she must give them audience; but from now on if she ever wished for an hour’s solitude it could be hers.

  I never knew what a prisoner I was until now that I am free, she told herself. Free, that is, as ever a monarch can be.

  She would never be free to consider her own wishes if these conflicted with the needs of the State. There would be no question of that ever, and she would tell Lord Melbourne so at their very next meeting, which would be later this day of course. How fortunate to come to the throne to find such a good, kind, amusing, witty, handsome man waiting to advise. Indeed, one ran out of adjectives when describing Lord Melbourne. She had no qualms, no fears when she considered that he was there beside her, to guide her and keep her informed on all matters of state.

  And now during this brief respite – this hour of being alone – she must consider her new position and always remember that she was the Queen. Everyone must realise this – and by everyone she meant Mamma, for Mamma was the only member of the household who would question her right to command. It was unfortunate because it was one’s duty to love one’s parents and Victoria wanted always to do her duty, so she must remind herself of her mother’s behaviour during the last years when she had deliberately kept Victoria from Court and had prevented her learning so much which would have been useful to her; and it was not as Mamma implied, that she did not wish her to meet the illegitimate FitzClarences but because she feared that her Uncle William and her Aunt Adelaide might have had too much influence over her. And so Victoria had come to the throne knowing little of Court life and had it not been for the presence of dear, good, kind Lord Melbourne, she would have been lost indeed. Nor was this the only grievance against her mother. She hated to think of what the Duchess’s relationship was with Sir John Conroy, for that man was allowed a familiarity which suggested that he could scarcely be merely her Comptroller of the Household. Lehzen became very significantly silent when the matter was referred to and she must not forget that her mother – she was sure on the advice of That Man – had tried to banish Lehzen to Germany as they had dear old Baroness Späth.

  She was, of course, reminding herself of all this so that she could justify herself in what she was about to do. ‘And to think,’ she said aloud, ‘that I, the Queen, have reached the age of eighteen and never had a bedroom to myself.’

  She summoned one of her servants and noted with pleasure the awe in the woman’s eyes. She no longer served the Princess but the Queen.

  ‘My bed is to be removed from the Duchess’s room,’ she said, ‘and this must be done without delay. It should be put in the room next to that of the Baroness Lehzen.’

  * * *

  The Duchess was in angry tears. In vain Lady Flora Hastings tried to comfort her.

  ‘When I
think of all I’ve done! The ingratitude! From the time her father died I have sacrificed myself …’

  Lady Flora made soothing sounds as she thrust the smelling salts under the Duchess’s quivering nose.

  ‘Perhaps at first she is feeling her power, Your Grace,’ suggested Flora. ‘She is so young.’

  ‘It is for this reason that she needs me. And to flout me in this way! First she wants to be alone. Then without consulting me she has her bed removed from my room. Why did I watch over her as I did? Because I cared so much for her safety! Why, Flora, there was a time when we feared for her life. That rogue Cumberland was capable of anything. And because I gave my life to her, now I am despised and flouted.’

  ‘She cannot despise Your Grace.’

  ‘There is no knowing what she will do. If Lord Melbourne tells her to be cruel to her mother, she will. She was always ready to be led by men. It was the same with my brother Leopold. She doted on him – still does. He only has to say something is so and she believes him.’

  ‘His Majesty always had her good in mind.’

  ‘I’m not so sure, Flora. Leopold always wanted to rule. He’s my brother, yes, but he sent Stockmar over and I must confess that I am not all that sure of Stockmar. There is only one man whom I can trust.’

  Flora nodded. She shared the Duchess’s admiration for Sir John Conroy.

  ‘If Her Majesty were not so much under the influence of the Baroness …’

  ‘Ah!’ snapped the Duchess. ‘There you have it. The Baroness gives herself airs, and these have become more intolerable during the last weeks.’

  ‘The Baroness, Your Grace, is a woman of low birth and this is often apparent. It seems incongruous that the Queen’s confidante – who advises her against her real friends – should be the daughter of a pastor!’

  ‘We bestowed the title of Baroness on her when she had proved herself a good nurse as it was unseemly that an untitled person should wait on a Princess – as Victoria was then.’