Виктория Холт - The Queen and Lord M

Albert or Ernest. Ernest or Albert. Albert had pleased her more than his brother when they had visited Kensington before her accession. He was very good-looking and she felt that she could guide him more easily because he was a few months younger than she was. Yes, she had been delighted with Albert at that time and had marriage been suggested then she believed she would have been quite ready to agree. But she had grown up in the last years. She had become a Queen; she had emerged from her prison; she had benefited from the tuition of dear Lord M.

Soon, however, this question of marriage would arise, and she faced the fact that it no longer pleased her. She did not want anyone to interfere with the very pleasant relationship which existed between her and her Prime Minister. She was quite content as she was. And after this terrible affair of Lady John Russell, did she look on marriage and all it meant with a certain apprehension?

She wrote to Uncle Leopold, because they corresponded as frequently as ever, but there was a different tone in her letters now of which he must be aware. She was too open to pretend and their relationship had changed since she had been obliged to tell him that he must not meddle in English affairs.

But this was a personal matter. He had liked Lord John.‘My dear Uncle,We have all been very much distressed by the melancholy and untimely death of poor Lady John Russell … it is a dreadful blow to him for he was so attached to her, and I don’t believe two people ever were happier together … He is dreadfully beat down by it, but struggles manfully against his grief which makes one pity him more … I had known her very well and liked her, and I assure you I was dreadfully shocked by it …’

Yes, she was dreadfully shocked; and she felt something more than the loss of a dear friend and pity for her husband and the children she was leaving. She was vaguely depressed. The pleasantest summer she had ever spent had passed away; and she was facing realities which did not look quite so pleasant to her.

I wish, she thought, that that summer could have gone on and on and never ended.

But she did not speak of her misgivings, even to Lord Melbourne.

Christmas followed closely on the death of Lady John. Several of the ladies-in-waiting went home to their families to spend the holiday and one of those who left was Lady Flora Hastings, who had gone up to Scotland to stay at one of her family’s seats, Loudoun Castle.

Victoria had never recovered from the depression which had begun with the death of Lady John and she began to feel not so well and to worry about her health.

‘I am putting on a good deal of weight,’ she told Lord Melbourne.

‘Oh,’ he replied easily, ‘plump people are much more comfortable to be with than thin ones. “I like not these lean men”, said one of your ancestors, King Henry VIII to be precise.’

‘It was all very well for him. He was tall. I am too short to be fat. Oh, how I wish I could grow!’

‘Your small stature somehow lends you dignity which shows how naturally that very regal quality comes to you.’

‘It could be even more noticeable if I were a few inches taller. And I hate to be fat.’

‘You should eat less.’

‘I know, but I do like food.’

‘It is very often that we like the things which do us most harm. Don’t have your food so highly flavoured.’

‘I like it so.’

‘All Hanoverians are very fond of food. You take after your family.’

‘That’s what I’m afraid of. My grandfather went mad. Some said Uncle William really was.’

‘I remember the gamblers making bets,’ said Lord Melbourne. ‘Would he be in a straitjacket before he could get to the throne?’

‘And I believe it was hinted that even Uncle George …’

‘Good God,’ cried Lord Melbourne, ‘what are you suggesting? It’s madness … I mean folly. People go mad through worrying too much, so that is what you have to watch for. As for being fat … walk more, take exercise. That will do it. Then you need not cut down on the food you like.’

‘My feet get swollen when I walk.’

‘Then walk even more and they’ll get over it.’

‘Some members of my family have walked a great deal and they are fat. I am getting rather lazy. I never want to dress in fine clothes now.’

‘You must dress,’ said Lord Melbourne. ‘The people expect it. Besides dressing brushes up a woman.’

‘I don’t feel quite the same as I did.’

‘You became Queen. It was a great experience. You were exultant, excited. It is only natural that the excitement wears off, and there follows a certain depression. Soon you will throw that off and settle down. Then you will discover what a fine thing it is to be queen of a great country.’

‘I hope so. I hate to feel so lazy. Sometimes when I get up in the morning I don’t want even to brush my teeth. I feel angry about teeth. They are such a nuisance.’

‘Mrs Sheridan used to say that there were four commandments and that children should be brought up to obey them … and if they did all would be well. They were: Fear God; Honour the King; Obey Your Parents; and Brush Your Teeth.’

Victoria began to laugh. Then she thought of Mrs Sheridan, who must have been the mother of Caroline Norton, that woman with whom he was involved in divorce proceedings.

She thought: How I wish he would tell me something of his past life – that very colourful, exciting and, some would say, wicked past of his, which has made him such a fascinating person!

Oh yes, there was something to make life agreeable even during this time of depression. Her meetings with Lord M.

* * *

The Baroness came into the Queen’s bedroom through the communicating door. Her face was flushed and she looked as though she were rather excited about something.

‘I must tell you at once. Flora Hastings is back.’

‘Well, Daisy darling, that is not very good news.’

‘She came back from Scotland, you know.’

‘Yes, I heard she had gone to her mother’s house for Christmas.’

‘She came back in a post chaise which she shared with … guess whom?’

‘Daisy, what has come over you? Tell me what it is at once.’

‘She came back alone with Sir John Conroy.’

‘Well, of course there have been lots of rumours about them. They are often together and I am ashamed to say this – and wouldn’t to anyone but you, Daisy – but people say that my mother is jealous of Lady Flora because Sir John pays too much attention to her.’

‘It may well be that he has been paying very special attention to her.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘She is feeling most unwell. She has mysterious pains in her side. And there is no doubt that her figure has undergone a change recently. She had grown noticeably larger.’

‘Oh no, Daisy, it cannot be!’

‘I am certain it is. I hear that she is going to consult Sir James Clark.’

‘Oh, how very shocking!’

‘Well, what do you expect?’

‘That man is capable of anything.’

‘Now,’ said Lehzen, not without glee, ‘we shall await developments.’

* * *

The fact that Flora Hastings had travelled in a post chaise alone with Sir John gave rise to a great deal of gossip in both camps, and as she was visiting the doctor and her figure was somewhat enlarged, conclusions were being drawn in every quarter.

Lady Flora, too, seemed preoccupied and very pale; she was clearly worried.

Even her friends were asking themselves what the outcome would be. Lady Flora, the daughter of a very important family; Sir John married; and the Duchess either very jealous now or soon would be. What an exciting situation!

As for the Queen, who had begun to feel a little deflated, she was finding a new interest in life through the Lady Flora situation.

‘If,’ she said to Lehzen, ‘it is proved that he is responsible for her condition, he will have no alternative but to leave the Palace and that is what we want more than anything.’

Lady Tavistock, Lady of the Bedchamber, who was in charge of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, returned from visiting her family to find the scandal in full spate.

‘It is disgraceful,’ she was told by Lady Portman, second-in-command in the bedchamber, ‘that the woman is allowed to go about in this state. Something ought to be done about it.’

‘The Queen is aware of this, of course.’

‘You should know what sharp eyes she has. She misses little. And it really is becoming quite obvious.’

‘What a scandal! I’m glad it is one of the Duchess’s ladies and not one of ours.’

‘If it were one of ours we should have hushed it up by now and got her sent away … quickly.’

‘I wonder why Lady Flora didn’t stay in Scotland?’

‘Because she can’t tear herself away from Sir John, I daresay.’

‘I’ll have to think what can be done,’ said Lady Tavistock.

She could go to the Queen, but perhaps that was not advisable. The Queen could be very imperious. Lady Tavistock had been made uncomfortably aware of that when they had been out driving recently, and the Queen had suddenly declared that she must walk more because she was putting on weight and had been advised to take exercise. When the Queen walked etiquette demanded that her ladies walk also. The ground had been damp, and Lady Tavistock had returned to the Palace with wet feet and as her maid had the key to her wardrobe she had been unable to change. It had been most uncomfortable and a cold had resulted. She had complained to Thomas Creevey, that ubiquitous gossip, who had said with a chuckle, ‘I daresay you thought her a resolute little chit.’ And Lady Tavistock had agreed that she had. And Thomas Creevey had lost no time not only in noting the incident in his diaries, but discussing it with his friends.