Then he laughed and said, “Lohlein says that you aren’t allowed to rip open any more jackets, Albert. You don’t have enough to squander them so recklessly.”
“I am not such a reckless person.”
“Maybe you are changing, Albert.” Ernst sat down on the bed and noticed the miniature that lay on the nightstand. He picked it up and looked at it by the light of the candle.
“I didn’t know you had this, Albert. I thought Papa had got rid of everything.”
“I found it in a bureau in the library at Rosenau.”
“You look so like her,” Ernst said.
Albert got up and took the miniature from his brother. “You know I can’t remember her face. But tonight when I was dancing with Victoria, she was wearing these flowers, and suddenly I remembered Mama coming to kiss us goodnight. She had these flowers in her hair, but I was not allowed to touch them.”
He put the picture down. “How can you miss someone you barely remember, so much?”
Ernst put his arms round his brother. “It will be different when you and Victoria are married.”
Albert returned his brother’s embrace. “She has to ask me first.”
“Oh, I think she will, don’t you?”
“Perhaps. But it is not so simple. Tonight, yes, I felt that we could understand each other, but she is so … so fickle, as the English say. I am not the only person she likes.”
Ernst held his brother at arm’s length and said with uncharacteristic seriousness, “You have nothing to fear, Albert. Victoria is not like Mama.”
Albert turned away. “I hope you are right.”
CHAPTER FOUR
The November sun shone through the window onto Victoria’s face as the maid pulled back the curtains. She stretched out her arms like a cat and was smiling broadly when Lehzen came in through the interconnecting door.
“Good morning, Majesty. I see that you slept well.”
Victoria beamed at her. “Very well.”
She swung her legs to the floor and danced over to Lehzen. Humming the waltz from last night, she whirled around her governess, Lehzen laughing in protest as Victoria took her hand and made her twirl.
“I have decided to go to Windsor,” Victoria said.
Lehzen stopped in mid-twirl and said in surprise, “Windsor? But you don’t like Windsor.”
Victoria did a pirouette and spun round to face Lehzen. “Of course I like Windsor!”
Lehzen could not hide her consternation. “When do you want to go?”
Victoria danced over to the window and looked out. “Immediately. Please make all the arrangements.”
Lehzen hesitated and then said slowly, “Is everyone to come, Majesty? Even the Princes?”
Victoria turned around and laughed. “Are you suggesting that we leave them behind?”
Lehzen looked at the floor. “No, Majesty, of course not. If you will excuse me, I must inform the servants.”
Victoria waved her away, and continued to dance round the room, humming to herself, until Skerrett came in to do her hair.
Victoria was walking down the staircase wearing her bonnet and pelisse when she saw Melbourne coming the other way. He looked up at her, surprised by the travelling clothes.
Victoria felt herself blushing for no reason that she could explain. “Lord M!”
Melbourne bowed, and produced a letter from his pocket. “I have brought the latest dispatch from Macnaghten in Kabul. I knew you would be anxious to read it.”
Victoria stopped. “I do want to read it, very much.” She hesitated, and then blurted out, “But, you see, I have decided to go to Windsor.”
“On a Wednesday, ma’am?” Melbourne looked at her closely, and Victoria found she could not meet his eyes.
“Yes. I would like some … some fresh air.”
“Really?” Melbourne’s eyebrow hovered quizzically.
“You know how fond I am of trees.”
“Trees, ma’am?”
Victoria lifted her chin defiantly. “Yes. There are some very fine specimens in the park there.”
“Indeed there are.” Melbourne hesitated and then added lightly, “Will their Serene Highnesses be going too?”
“Yes, of course. Everybody is going.” She took another step down the stairs, and then stopped and looked back Melbourne. “We will expect you for dinner.”
Melbourne shook his head. “I think that might be difficult, ma’am. You see, I must go to the House to give a statement about Afghanistan.” He paused. “You will have much to distract you at the castle. There are the trees,” he smiled, “and I am sure Prince Albert will want to see the Windsor collection.”
Now it was Victoria’s turn to shake her head. “But I won’t be … comfortable unless you are there, Lord M. You always make things so easy.”
Melbourne said gently, “You know, ma’am, I believe you might be surprised at how comfortable you will feel. You seemed to be enjoying yourself very much with the Princes last night.”
“But you were there last night!” Victoria’s face took on its most regal cast. “You would come for dinner if we were staying here. I don’t see why Windsor should be any different. I shall expect you.”
Melbourne bowed, and said with a smile that did not reach his eyes, “Is that a command, ma’am?”
Victoria looked up at him. “Not a command, but a request for your company. Please, Lord M?”
“In that case, ma’am, I can hardly refuse.”
* * *
The line of carriages stretched along the turnpike, flanked by outriders with their plumed helmets. It could have been a small army on the move, but it was only the Queen’s immediate household, the Duchess of Kent, King Leopold, and of course the Princes. In the first carriage Victoria sat holding Dash, with Lehzen at her side and Harriet and Emma sitting across from her. Lehzen, who did not approve of this spontaneous desire to visit Windsor, said for the umpteenth time, “I expect we won’t get there before dark.”
Victoria said, “Oh, stop grumbling, Lehzen. Think how splendid it will be to walk in the forest.”
Lehzen looked puzzled. “The forest, Majesty? But we never walk in the forest.”
“Then it is time we did!”
Emma caught Harriet’s eye, and they spent the next ten minutes trying to stifle their giggles. They had no difficulty in interpreting Victoria’s enthusiasm for all things arboreal, but there was something inexpressibly comic about Lehzen’s failure to understand the Queen’s behaviour.
Fortunately, they were able to laugh unobserved when the carriage had to stop outside London for a few moments to change horses. Emma said to Harriet, “The Baroness chooses not to see what is in front of her eyes. The Queen is very taken with the Prince, I think.”
Harriet’s face went suddenly serious as she replied, “But can you blame Lehzen? When the Queen has a husband she will not need the Baroness anymore.” Emma remembered Melbourne’s face yesterday as the Queen was dancing with Prince Albert, and she too stopped laughing.
* * *
In the carriage belonging to the King of the Belgians, Leopold looked at his nephew with approval. “Victoria is always so reluctant to leave London.” He smiled at Albert. “I wonder if this sudden enthusiasm for Windsor has anything to do with you?”
Albert looked out of the window. “I wouldn’t know, Uncle.”
Ernst nudged him and laughed. “Poor Albert. He can’t see that this whole excursion has been arranged because he told Victoria that he likes to wander among trees.”
Albert turned to his brother. “I don’t think Victoria would go to such trouble simply to amuse me, Ernst.”
Ernst nudged him again. “That shows how little you know about young ladies, Albert.”
Albert pushed his brother back. “How lucky I am that I have you to remind me, Ernst. Otherwise I might begin to think of myself as a ladies’ man.”
Ernst said with mock solemnity, “My dear brother, you may be popular with the ladies, but I feel sure t
hat you will never be a ladies’ man.”
“Yes. There are quite enough of those in the family!” said Albert.
* * *
Before she left London, Victoria had sent word to Mr Seguier, the surveyor of the King’s pictures, asking him to meet her at the castle. This summons had caused great upheaval in the Seguier household, Seguier wondering if perhaps it was connected to the knighthood that he felt was long overdue, and his wife trying to remember what she had done with her husband’s best silk stockings. Fortunately, the stockings had been found, so that Seguier was able to reach the castle only an hour after the Queen herself. To his surprise, he was ushered into her presence immediately upon arrival.
Victoria was waiting for him in the blue drawing room, surrounded by her ladies. A corpulent man, Seguier found as he kneeled in front of the Queen to kiss her hands that his breeches were unaccountably tight. He got up rather gingerly and said in the courtly manner that seemed to work with all his aristocratic clients, “Your Majesty. Such an honour to be summoned to the castle. It is such a long time since I was here last. Your uncle George was good enough to ask me down to catalogue his acquisitions; what a connoisseur he was. But since the accession of your uncle William, I have only been here once—he asked me to find him a picture of a frigate.” Seguier gave a little shudder, and his jowls wobbled. “So I am delighted to be here again and to offer any assistance it is in my power to give.”
He looked at Victoria expectantly. Could this be the moment when he could at last tell his wife that she was to be Lady Seguier?
But Victoria had another reason for summoning him to the castle. “I have discovered, Mr Seguier, that I do not know as much about my collection as I would like. There are so many fine pictures here at the castle. I was hoping you might be able to tell me a little of their history,” she hesitated, “in case I should be asked about them.”
Seguier concealed his disappointment with his most knowledgeable smile. Although a knighthood was the pinnacle of his ambitions, he was not unhappy to be asked to take charge of the artistic education of the monarch. If he could guide her taste, then no doubt he would be able to help her expand the collection. There was no better tonic to an art dealer than a royal patron.
“Of course, ma’am. May I suggest that we start with the Raphael over here? It is a very fine example of his early work. I particularly commend you to look at the brushwork around the mouth. Such exquisite command of line and tone. And then, of course, you have the Rembrandt on the opposite wall that I acquired for King George. His Majesty told me he thought it to be one of the finest pieces in the collection.”
As Victoria moved around the room listening attentively to Seguier’s discourses on the paintings, Emma and Harriet exchanged glances.
“I never knew that the Queen was so interested in art,” said Harriet.
“I don’t think she has ever even noticed the pictures before,” said Emma.
Both women began to laugh, not noticing Baroness Lehzen, who found herself feeling slightly faint and had to hold on to the edge of a sofa to steady herself.
* * *
Windsor Castle felt appreciably colder than Buckingham Palace, and the Princes were grateful for the blazing fires that had been lit in their apartments. Albert was standing in front of the hearth in their sitting room warming his hands, as Ernst wandered about the room trying to get the blood circulating after the long carriage ride.
“Of course I don’t consider this a real castle,” said Ernst. “It’s more like what someone thinks a castle ought to be than the real thing. It’s too airy and clean. Where are the dungeons? And the cobwebs? When you are married you should bring Victoria to the Rosenau and then she can see what a real castle is like.”
Albert shrugged. “I think, Ernst, that you are, as the English have it, counting your chickens before they are being hatched. There is no certainty of marriage between myself and Victoria.”
“No, and there is no certainty of spring coming after winter. She likes you, Albert, I can see it in her eyes. I don’t think you will have to wait very long.”
Albert looked moodily at the fire. “But I wish that I did not have to wait, as if I were the maiden waiting for a proposal. It is not … correct to be so much in another person’s power. I would like to make the decision for myself.”
“You could always refuse her,” said Ernst, laughing. “Of course it feels strange that she is the one who must propose, but I think the rewards are worth it, don’t you?”
“I don’t know, Ernst, if she likes me or not, or if she will propose, or even if I want to marry her. It is too complicated. Even if I become her husband I will never be the master.”
Ernst was about to reply when the door opened and Penge, the Queen’s steward, came in, followed by two footmen carrying tailor’s forms, each clothed in a jacket dazzling with gold braid. Penge bowed and with great solemnity said, “For your Serene Highnesses, with the Queen’s compliments.”
Ernst surveyed the navy blue jackets thick with gold and silver embroidery with a quizzical eye. “Fancy dress?”
Penge said in a tone stiff with reproof, “The Windsor uniform, your Serene Highness, was designed by His Majesty King George III for members of,” he hesitated and then said with emphasis, “the English court.” With another bow he left the room, followed by the footmen.
Ernst took off his jacket, tried on one of the Windsor jackets, and looked at himself in the mirror. “Well, no one will miss me in the dark wearing this. I wonder if King George designed it before or after he went mad?” He picked up the other jacket and held it out to Albert. “Here, put yours on.”
Albert donned the heavy jacket reluctantly. Ernst looked him up and down. “I think King George would be very proud to see you in his uniform. Not to mention his granddaughter.”
Albert looked at himself in the mirror and frowned.
“Why the long face, Albert? I think it suits you very well.”
Albert shook his head. “You will say that I am being ridiculous, but it seems that I am now able to choose nothing for myself, not even my clothes.”
“I don’t think you are being ridiculous, just ungrateful. Why, there is enough gold braid on this jacket to buy most of Coburg.”
To Ernst’s relief, Albert’s lips twitched. “Are you suggesting that we melt them down and make off with the proceeds?”
“Well, if she doesn’t propose, at least you won’t come away empty-handed!”
Albert laughed and lunged for his brother, who stepped aside so that Albert fell onto the sofa. Ernst sat down next to him.
“I am so glad you are here,” said Albert, putting his hand on his brother’s arm. “I don’t think I could do this on my own.”
Ernst covered Albert’s hand with his own. “I will always be here if you need me.” And then, standing up with a laugh, he said, “Besides, there are compensations for being your nursemaid. The Duchess of Sutherland, for example. What a profile.”
“I hope you will remember, Ernst, that she is a duchess and not a serving maid from Coburg.”
Ernst spun around, glittering in his golden jacket. “Duchess or serving maid. They are not so very different, although the Duchess, I think, has cleaner fingernails.”
* * *
Leopold admired himself in the looking glass above the chimney piece in the blue drawing room, where the guests were assembling before dinner. He had not worn the Windsor uniform for many years and was pleased by how well it still fitted him. Catching Emma Portman looking at him from across the room, he was encouraged that he was still the subject of admiring glances from the fairer sex. He did not know, of course, that Emma Portman was smiling not at the man, but at his evident pleasure in his own appearance.
Leopold’s happy self-congratulations were punctured by the steward announcing the arrival of Viscount Melbourne. Leopold turned in annoyance; he had not expected Melbourne to be at Windsor, and his chagrin was increased by the fact that Melbourne, who was also wearing th
e Windsor uniform, managed to look very well in it. He gave the Prime Minister a curt nod. “I did not know you were at the castle, Lord Melbourne.”
Melbourne shook his head. “Indeed, I should be at the House. The situation in Afghanistan requires it, but the Queen was most insistent.”
“And you do not care to refuse her?” Leopold’s tone was mocking, but Melbourne looked back at him, unsmiling, and said simply, “She is the Queen, sir.”
Leopold did not miss a beat. “Then you will welcome her marriage.” He smiled. “It will make your duties less … onerous.”
Before Melbourne could answer, the doors opened and the steward announced, “Their Serene Highnesses, Prince Ernst and Prince Albert.”
Leopold and Melbourne both turned to see Albert and Ernst walk in, resplendent in their gold braid. Leopold’s smile grew even broader. “There are my nephews, and in the Windsor uniform. How very pleasing. Such a mark of favour.”
He turned again to Melbourne, the smile never faltering. “As I was saying, Lord Melbourne, your life will soon be much easier.” He walked over to greet his nephews.
After glancing at the Princes, Melbourne moved to join Emma Portman on the other side of the room, when the steward announced, “Her Majesty the Queen.” Victoria entered, followed by Lehzen and the Duchess of Kent.
To his surprise, and secret pleasure, Victoria made straight for Melbourne, smiling happily. “Oh, Lord M, I am so glad that you were able to come.”
Melbourne inclined his head. “I should be waiting for dispatches from Kabul”—he smiled at her—“but I decided that I would rather observe the skirmishes at Windsor.”
He glanced over at the Princes, and Victoria laughed delightedly.
“Do you think Windsor is a battlefield, Lord M?”
“Well, there are quite enough men in uniform, ma’am.”
Melbourne had the satisfaction of hearing Victoria laugh again. But her reaction did not please everyone in the room. Albert, who felt unaccountably piqued by the way that Victoria had greeted Melbourne before anyone else, moved over to the Duchess of Kent, Ernst at his side.
“How charming you look tonight, Aunt. I think the air here must agree with you.”
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