‘I would never accept Sir Robert Peel and his Tories. I detest that man in any case.’


* * *

How gloomy it seemed in the Palace. Who would have believed everything could have changed so quickly? She wished that Flora Hastings would go away. It was really rather unkind of her to remain to be a reproach to them all.

Lady Flora looked like a ghost. She was so pale and the flesh seemed to be falling away from her bones; the ugly protuberance was obvious though, just the same as it had been when they had suspected her of being pregnant.

Victoria ignored her as much as possible, but occasionally she sent a message to her asking how she was. The Duchess continued to cosset her; there were still letters in the press. As Lehzen said to the Queen: Someone was determined to keep the affair alive and she suspected Conroy.

Lady Tavistock and Lady Portman told the Queen that Flora Hastings gave them the shivers. She was like a ghost walking about the Palace.

‘She should really go home to her family to be nursed,’ snapped the. Queen. ‘That would be the best thing possible.’

‘The Duchess has said that she will see that Flora is well looked after.’

She wants to keep her here, thought Victoria, as a reproach to me.

She found Lady Tavistock, pale and trembling, and asked what ailed her.

‘It is that woman, Your Majesty.’

‘Oh, that nasty creature, you mean?’

‘I had a dream about her … that she was dead and came back to haunt me.’

‘You should put her out of your mind,’ said the Queen sharply. ‘After all, you only did your duty. There should never have been this fuss. There was an enquiry; our suspicions proved false and that should have been the end of the matter.’

‘I have always been blamed,’ said Lady Tavistock.

Lady Tavistock was inclined to see herself as a martyr, as the Queen had once remarked to Lord Melbourne.

‘Nonsense!’ said Victoria irritably.

Lady Tavistock dared not pursue the matter with Her Majesty but went away to tell the Baroness how she and Lady Portman had asked Flora to shake hands with them and say she forgave them. But Lady Flora would not. She just looked through them with that ghostly air and walked quietly away. ‘I can’t forget it,’ said Lady Tavistock.

Lehzen did not mention this to the Queen. Poor darling, she had enough trouble coming to her as it was.


* * *

It came in the form of a letter from Lord Melbourne who could not bring himself to call and tell her.‘Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to Your Majesty and has to acquaint Your Majesty that the division upon the Jamaica Bill which took place about two this morning, was two hundred and ninety-nine against the measure and three hundred and four in favour of it …’

That, thought Victoria, is a majority. Only five it is true, but a majority. So all is well. They have won. Her relief was so great that she had to read what followed twice before she could grasp its implication.

The words danced before her eyes:‘Lord Melbourne cannot conceal from Your Majesty … leave Your Majesty’s confidential servants no alternative but to resign their offices into Your Majesty’s hands. They cannot give up the Bill either with honesty or satisfaction to their own consciences and in the face of such opposition they cannot persevere in it with any hope of success. Lord Melbourne is certain that Your Majesty will not deem him too presuming if he expresses the fear that this decision will be both painful and embarrassing to Your Majesty …’

Painful and embarrassing! He was going to resign. There would be another Prime Minister. He would cease to call on her. She would rarely see him – only perhaps at social functions. Oh, no, she would not accept his resignation. No one … no one could take Lord Melbourne’s place.

Lehzen came in to find her staring before her.

‘My precious angel, what is it?’ cried the Baroness.

Victoria threw herself wildly into the Baroness’s arms. ‘They are going to resign. I cannot bear it, Daisy. He will not come here again. It is all over.’

The Baroness led her to a chair and made her sit down.

‘Perhaps it will not be so. Perhaps they can come through this. After all they have not been defeated.’

‘He says …’ began Victoria and gave the letter to Lehzen. Lehzen read it as she read most of the Queen’s correspondence.

‘Oh my love,’ said Lehzen, ‘this is terrible!’

They wept together. ‘I cannot imagine it without him,’ said Victoria.

‘You will find the new men easy to get along with. You will find someone as willing to advise you.’

The Queen stamped her foot angrily. ‘I will find no one,’ she cried. ‘Do you think anyone could take his place?’

Her anger was more bearable than her grief.

Lehzen said: ‘He was the Prime Minister …’

‘Was! He still is the Prime Minister. He shall remain Prime Minister. I shall refuse to accept his resignation.’

Lehzen looked hopeful and the Queen went on. ‘Am I the Queen or not? If I say I won’t have these horrid Tories, I won’t. Lord Melbourne is my Prime Minister now and nothing is going to change it.’

Lehzen shook her head sadly. ‘It is no use,’ she said. ‘You know the Constitution.’

‘But they haven’t been beaten, Lehzen. They won by five votes.’

‘You read here what Lord Melbourne says. He is summoning a Cabinet meeting this morning and he tells you what the Cabinet’s decision will be.’

‘I must beg them not to. Let them give up their Bill.’

‘Even the Queen cannot interfere with State affairs like that. You know that, my darling. You are overwrought.’

‘Oh, Lehzen … darling Daisy … I am going to lose him.’

Lehzen tried to soothe her. She must lie down. She must rest. She must remember she was the Queen. Malicious people would be watching. There was gossip enough. ‘Oh, please, please my darling, control your feelings. Remember you are the Queen.’

‘Daisy … what should I do without you!’

‘You have me until I die, my dearest.’

‘But if I lose him, Daisy, I don’t want to live.’

‘What sort of talk is this? Is this how a Queen talks?’

‘But he … is going to leave me, and I cannot endure that Daisy.’

‘Of course he is not going to leave you. He is still here. He will be the Leader of the Opposition, I suppose. He will not be far off. You will see him now and then. You speak as though he were going to die.’

That cheered her a little. ‘Yes, I shall see him now and then. We shall be at dinners together. I shall invite him to my box at the opera.’

‘There you see,’ said Lehzen.

‘But it won’t be the same, will it? He won’t be able to come here and we shan’t have our chats … alone. He will have to move out of the Palace. All our fun will be over. Oh, Daisy, you have no idea … no one has … how amusing he is. He makes everything so lighthearted and he is so good and kind and there is no one like him.’

‘He will come and see you.’

‘No, that horrid Peel man won’t allow it. He will come instead and I won’t have him.’

‘Once again,’ said Lehzen, ‘I beg of you to remember that you are the Queen.’

‘He would say the same, Daisy. He always reminds me that queens have to do all sorts of things that are distasteful to them.’

‘Yes, if he were here now he would say what I am saying.’

‘Oh, yes, dear Daisy, it’s true.’

‘And you would want him to be proud of you. People will be calling to see you soon. You must remember that you are the Queen. Have you forgotten how wonderful you were when Conyngham and the Archbishop came to tell you you were the Queen. Everyone said how calm … how dignified … how queenly.’

‘But that was something I wanted to hear … something I had been waiting for. Now I am going to lose my dear Prime Minister.’

‘Let me bathe your eyes. I have a wonderful lotion. No one must see, must they? There would be gossip … scandal …’

Victoria stared at the Baroness. Scandal! It was the first time she had thought that her relationship with Lord Melbourne might be considered scandalous.

She said brokenly, ‘He is the best and kindest of men. I was fortunate beyond everything that he should be my Prime Minister.’

‘And still is as far as we know.’

‘For how long, Daisy, for how long?’

‘Let’s cross our bridges when we come to them,’ said Lehzen just as she used to when they were in the nursery together before Victoria was a Queen.


* * *

‘Lord Melbourne has called,’ said Lehzen.

The Queen clasped her hands together. She was trembling.

‘He is waiting,’ added Lehzen gently.

Victoria covered her face with her hands.

‘Try and control yourself, dearest. You want to see him. Remember you are the Queen, and this is not goodbye to him.’

She nodded and went to him.

She held out both hands to him. He kissed them. When she raised her face to his she saw the tears in his eyes.

‘It … has happened?’ she asked fearfully.

Lord Melbourne nodded. ‘Lord John will be coming to see you. He will tell you that at our Cabinet meeting it was agreed that the Government should resign.’

‘I shall lose you,’ she said.

‘I shall be close.’

‘You will not forsake me, then?’

‘You cannot believe that I would ever do such a thing.’

‘I am a little comforted, but most unhappy.’

‘Your Majesty does me too much honour.’