‘God bless my dear child,’ prayed Lehzen nightly; and now as she listened to Victoria’s excited chatter at breakfast she thought: God give her happiness.
‘I shall take them walking along by the sea. They tell me they love the sea, although they did not greatly enjoy the crossing. But this will be different, I tell them. Dear little Dashy does not seem very well this morning, Lehzen. Oh dear, I do hope he is going to be well enough to travel.’
‘He can go with the grooms,’ said Lehzen. ‘I daresay he will soon be better.’
‘The sea air will be so good for him. Alexander loves Dashy. He did like him so much in his jacket and trousers, but I think they are too hot for this time of the year and they annoy him.’
She is only a child yet, thought Lehzen. And this visit is just a preliminary one. There are the other cousins to be seen and she may like them better. At least there will be four of them and I expect she will be allowed to choose within the quartet.
It was time to leave. Sir John went into the first post-chaise and led the way, and Victoria followed in the next with the Duchess; after that came Lehzen’s landau, with the cousins following in their carriage; and the rest of the party after them.
The sun was shining and the road was clear; and in an hour’s time they were changing horses at Esher. As they drove the Duchess talked to Victoria about the manner in which she should conduct herself with her cousins, and Victoria listened somewhat listlessly, murmuring: ‘Yes, Mamma,’ now and then, as she revelled in the beauties of the countryside. She wished she could have ridden with the cousins, but she supposed that would not have been very proper.
What fun it was to be towed over to the dear Isle of Wight, and Admiral Sir Thomas Williams whose barge they were using accompanied them and stood with her and her cousins as they slowly left the mainland for the island.
‘I shall always love the dear island after this,’ she said, and Alexander declared he would do the same.
‘And so shall I,’ said Ernest, not to be outdone by his brother. And he added: ‘I hope I shall come here often.’
Carriages were waiting to take them to Norris Castle in Cowes where they were to stay for a while. Victoria was secretly pleased that the Conroy family were not to stay at the Castle. Sir John had a house on the island, and he with Lady Conroy and the children were to stay there. It was called Osborne Lodge and when Victoria saw it she was delighted with it, and but for the fact that it was Sir John’s and he was there, would have liked to stay in it herself.
What a glorious time they had! Everyone wanted to see Victoria and do honour to her. The people cheered her wherever she went; guns were constantly firing salutes; the Royal Standard flew from Norris Castle; and the Princes were very impressed with the importance of their young cousin.
Alexander was a little jealous of Ernest and Ernest of Alexander; but as they were so amiable, they did not allow their jealousy to spoil the happiness of the days, only to enhance it.
I am growing up, thought Victoria; and one of the most pleasant things about growing up was the attention of young men. She tried to bestow favours equally on them because she liked them both; but if she were asked to choose which one she preferred, it would be dear Alexander.
And there was the beautiful Emerald which Victoria looked upon as her own ship, waiting for them. How she looked forward to entertaining the cousins on the ship. She was so beautiful with the Royal Standard flying bravely above her.
The Queen reading the papers at breakfast gave a little gasp of dismay.
‘What’s this?’ asked the King.
For once Adelaide’s equilibrium was disturbed and she was flushed with annoyance. It was a few days after the ball when the Duchess had discourteously left early.
‘The Württemberg Princes spent the whole of yesterday at the Zoo,’ said Adelaide. ‘And I was told that they had so many engagements that our invitation to Windsor must be refused.’
William laid down the paper he was reading and banged his fist on the table.
‘That woman,’ he said, ‘is getting beyond endurance. You ask her to a ball which is to be given in honour of her relations and she comes here and behaves as though she is some sort of Empress and we are subjects whom she is honouring. I won’t stand it, Adelaide. I tell you I won’t.’ William had begun to declaim. ‘Who is the woman? Widow of some obscure German Prince before she married Edward; and when Edward died she behaved as though she were head of the family. She has to be taught a lesson and I’m going to teach her a lesson.’
Adelaide wished she had not spoken.
‘The best thing is to ignore her,’ she began.
‘Ignore her! When she goes about parading that girl as though she is already Queen and I don’t exist. Oh no. I’ll not ignore her. I’ll humiliate her … publicly that’s what I’ll do.’
His face was growing scarlet.
He shouted for his secretary.
‘William, what are you going to do?’
‘I’m going to summon her to St James’s in such a way that she dare not refuse and then I am going to command her to bring those young men here. I’m going to tell her that they are guests in my Kingdom and if I wish to entertain them I will.’
‘William, don’t you think …’
‘I know what I think, my dear, and that is that this woman has gone too far.’
His secretary arrived and he dictated a wordy command to the Duchess to come to St James’s without delay.
When the messenger had left William stalked up and down rehearsing what he would say to That Woman when she stood before him. Adelaide watched him fearfully. Words flowed from him a little incoherently. She was terrified; and then greatly relieved when the messenger returned to say that the Duchess and her guests had left Kensington the previous day and her servants were unsure of her destination.
William was not to be appeased. ‘Royal progress,’ he said. ‘Flaunting themselves all over the Kingdom. Staying in country houses! Whig houses most of ‘em! That woman seems to believe that her daughter is the Queen and she is the Regent. For she is the one, you know. She is the ruler. The poor girl does what she’s told. Royal Salutes popping all over the place. There’s going to be an end to this popping.’
‘Perhaps,’ suggested Adelaide, ‘if they knew your wishes they would stop having these salutes fired.’
‘I shall command them to stop their poppings. Whoever heard of such arrogance? I’ll send for Earl Grey and tell him.’
‘Yes,’ said Adelaide. ‘I think that would be an excellent idea.’
When Earl Grey came he said that in view of the great popularity of the little Princess – and although he did not add the lack of popularity of the King although this was what he implied – he thought it might be a good idea to ask the Duchess first to stop having the salutes fired.
‘Ask?’ cried the King. ‘Why should I ask favours of that woman?’
‘Just as a matter of form,’ suggested Earl Grey; and Adelaide was nodding.
The King hesitated. ‘Do it how you like,’ he said, ‘but the salutes are to be stopped.’
Adelaide was relieved. She did hope the matter could be settled amicably.
‘Do you think,’ said the Duchess to Sir John, ‘that too much adulation is going to Victoria’s head?’
‘There is certainly a change in her since the arrival of the Princes.’