Another chance to see him! To try to persuade him to forget this wretched Bill. Were not the people of Buckingham Palace more important to him than those of Jamaica?
In the afternoon Lord Melbourne was back at the Palace. He had recovered most of his normal nonchalance, as though he had had a tussle with himself and come to the conclusion that he must not let his feelings get the better of him.
He kissed her hand; and she clung to his for a few moments fiercely as though she would not let him go.
‘I have come to see Your Majesty,’ he said, ‘because I have been aware for some time that this was inevitable and I had already considered the advice I should give you when the day arrived.’
‘Then,’ she demanded, ‘why did you allow this Jamaican business to happen?’
He raised those bushy but beautifully marked eyebrows and gave her that half-amused half-exasperated look which had so often enchanted her. ‘Your Majesty forgets that our Ministry was never strong. Our majority was small and the Lords have never favoured us. Lord Brougham has constantly waited his opportunity to finish us off. It has been almost impossible to get any legislation through the House. Everywhere we have turned we have been baulked. This is a situation which cannot, for the good of the country, be allowed to continue. But for Your Majesty’s kindness to me and my ministers I doubt we should have lasted as long as we did. So you see, we have been fortunate. Now I must tell you what I think you should do.’
‘I do not want to see Sir Robert Peel,’ said the Queen firmly.
‘Your Majesty is not being fair to this man.’
‘He is the man who has opposed you. It is because of him that you have to go.’
‘He opposes me naturally because he is in Opposition so that is a perfectly logical thing for him to do. And my departure is by no means due to him. You must not blame him because he is a Tory.’
‘I would prefer to see all people Whigs as we are.’
He looked at her sadly. Had all his teaching been in vain? Here was the child of the nursery. Then he was filled with tenderness. She is too young for such a burden, he thought.
‘If you do not wish to send for Peel you can send for the Duke of Wellington. Tell the Duke, if Your Majesty feels this is so, that you were entirely satisfied with your late Government and that you part from them with reluctance.’
‘Oh, dear Lord M, have you any doubt of that?’
‘No, indeed I have not. Tell the Duke that as the head of the party which has been responsible for removing your late Government from office you turn to him to advise you as to the manner of replacing it and continuing with the country’s business. Now if the Duke should decide not to do this Your Majesty will have no alternative but to call in Sir Robert Peel.’
‘I can’t bear to hear his name.’
‘And first,’ went on Lord Melbourne, ‘you must overcome this aversion which in fact has no foundation in logic. For Your Majesty has scarcely seen the man.’
‘Oh, I have seen him, but he did not have the grace to present himself to me.’
‘Then he was a fool … but in that respect only. I do assure Your Majesty that he is far from foolish in the House of Commons. He is formal; he is self-conscious and it is for this reason that he did not present himself to Your Majesty. But he is an extremely able statesman and if the Duke refuses you must – for there is nothing else you can do – ask him to form a Government. But you should insist that the Duke of Wellington is part of that Government.’
‘Are you sure there is nothing else I can do?’
He smiled at her tenderly, ‘Ah, I can see that now you are accepting this unpleasant state of affairs.’
‘I shall never accept it in my heart.’
‘But you will remember you are the Queen. This is how it is with Sovereigns. There are times when we all have to act in a manner which causes us great sorrow; but this is particularly so with Sovereigns.’
‘You will dine at the Palace tonight?’
‘Your Majesty must excuse me, for I do not think that would be advisable.’
‘You are still my Prime Minister until I have a new one.’
‘Our actions are noted, commented on, exaggerated you know. I do assure you that it would be very unwise for me to dine at the Palace tonight. I have already accepted an invitation to dine at Lady Holland’s. I think I should be there.’
She nodded. ‘I shall see you again … soon?’
‘As Your Majesty commands,’ he said.
Then he left her; and she went to her room to weep quietly.
Lehzen came to her and there was some comfort in talking to her.
‘It will not seem so bad tomorrow,’ said Lehzen.
‘It will never be the same,’ she answered. ‘All, all my happiness has gone! That happy peaceful life is destroyed. Lord Melbourne is no longer my minister.’
She stayed in her room. ‘Which will be noted,’ Lehzen reminded her.
‘I don’t care,’ cried the Queen; and indeed she was in no state to appear.
Lehzen imagined the sly comments that were no doubt being exchanged in the Duchess’s household; Conroy would be jeering, the Duchess gloating. But certainly the Queen could not appear with swollen eyes and silent grief, unable to eat.
In her own room Lehzen tried to tempt her with food but she could not touch it, but as the evening wore on she grew a little calmer.
‘Lord Melbourne expects me to be calm,’ she told Lehzen. ‘He says I must behave as if this is merely a change of Government which it is obvious I would rather not have taken place, but I must show that I am ready to work with these people.’
‘And Lord Melbourne is right. You used to say he always was.’
She sat brooding until midnight; then she went to bed and to Lehzen’s relief slept soundly.
As soon as she awoke next morning she wrote to Lord Melbourne.‘The Queen thinks Lord Melbourne may possibly wish to know how she is this morning; the Queen is somewhat calmer; she was in a wretched state till nine last night when she tried to occupy herself and to think less gloomily of this dreadful change and she succeeded in calming herself till she went to bed at twelve and she slept well; but on waking this morning all – all that had happened in one short eventful day came forcibly to mind and brought back her grief; the Queen, however, feels better now; but she couldn’t touch a morsel of food last night nor can she this morning. The Queen trusts Lord Melbourne slept well and is well this morning; and that he will come precisely at eleven o’clock …’
She was sitting brooding in her room waiting for eleven to come when the Duke of Wellington was announced.
‘It is not a bad dream,’ she mourned. ‘It really has begun.’
The great Duke was seventy and seemed quite ancient to the young Queen. The idea of his taking the place of her beloved Lord Melbourne was grotesque – yet just a little better than horrid Peel’s doing so.
‘Your Majesty!’ said the Duke bowing.
‘Pray be seated,’ replied the Queen. ‘Now I suppose you know why I have sent for you?’
‘I have no idea,’ replied the Duke.
A fine future leader of Government, she thought, who doesn’t know what is going on!
‘Lord Melbourne’s Ministry, in which I had the greatest confidence, has resigned.’
‘I am grieved to hear it.’
‘As your party has been instrumental in removing them,’ said the Queen with a flash of temper, ‘I am obliged to look to you to form a new Government.’