The Queen was very pale and agitated. It was true of course. Lehzen and Albert – although of the same nationality – were sworn enemies and they could never be anything else. Strange that the two people she should love so dearly should be so very different. Albert was so meticulous, such a good organiser; Lehzen was always in a muddle; and she had to admit that the nurseries were not properly run. What if Pussy was suffering because of that?
She said: ‘There is a mistaken idea that Baroness Lehzen is a sort of power behind the throne. That is not so. Lord Melbourne understood perfectly. She was good to me when I was a child; she was like a mother to me; I only want her to have a home with me. That’s all. There is too much speculation and imagination.’
‘I think she should go away,’ said Baron Stockmar. ‘Indeed she must go away.’
‘You mean for a holiday?’
‘A long holiday,’ said Stockmar. ‘You would see then how differently your household could be managed.’
Victoria now knew that all she really wanted was to be back on good terms with Albert. Suppose Lehzen went back to her home in Coburg for a long holiday. Then they could see how they managed without her. ‘Dear Daisy,’ she would say, ‘it is so long since you saw your home. You have worked far too much. You know that you are not well. There was that attack of jaundice. Have a long rest.’
Poor Daisy! She would understand of course. Perhaps in her heart she would know that there was no room at the palace for her while the Prince was there; and the plain fact was that Victoria could not be happy without Albert.
Stockmar smiled benignly.
‘I can see that Your Majesty has made up your mind.’
He went back to Albert. ‘I have made her see reason.’
‘You cannot mean that the Baroness is going!’
‘In due course. I’m certain that before the year is out she will have said goodbye to the palace.’
‘But the Queen has consented to this?’
‘Not in so many words. But she realises that I shall not stay here if Lehzen remains and even more important she knows that you and Lehzen cannot continue amicably under the same roof. She has to choose between her old governess and a happy life with her husband. I had no doubt that when she saw exactly how matters stood she would have no hesitation in making her choice.’
Albert seized Stockmar’s hand and wrung it warmly.
‘There is still need for caution,’ said the Baron. ‘We have won the first skirmish only. The main battle is to be won. You will act with care. Your task, even when the Baroness is gone, will be to show the Queen that, although in public she is the Queen and you are only her consort, in the home you are the master.’
‘You think it is possible to show Victoria that?’
‘Not only possible but a necessity. Her nature demands that you should do this. You must be very careful indeed until Lehzen departs and even after that you will tread warily. Make no concessions. Be your calm self; that disconcerts her. But I think you were wise on this one occasion to match your temper with hers. But not again. From now on you will be the calm, judicious husband.’
Stockmar laughed – something he rarely did.
‘I think I see victory,’ he added.
The Queen waited for Albert to come to her. Why did he not? She had made concessions. She was going to agree to the Baroness’s going on a long holiday. Now she expected him to come and tell her how pleased he was and how much he appreciated the sacrifice she was making for him.
She went to his sitting-room and found him there reading. How dared he be so calm.
‘Albert,’ she said, ‘I had thought that you would have come to see me.’
He raised his eyebrows and smiled at her. ‘You were not in a very pleasant mood when we last met.’
‘Nor were you,’ she reminded him.
‘It was most regrettable.’
‘Put your book down, Albert. I have to talk to you.’
Albert said coolly: ‘Is that an order?’
‘When I come in I expect you to put aside what you are doing.’
She frowned. She was longing for him to embrace her and tell her how noble she was to agree to do without Lehzen and to tell her he adored her for her self-sacrifice; and there he was serenely sitting there, looking as though he found his wretched book more interesting than she was.
Oh, he was clever, of course. And she was not. And he wanted to have clever people to dine with them so that they could all talk over her head and he could show how much more clever he was than the Queen.
‘If it was a request instead of a command I might be prepared to concede,’ said Albert with a grave smile.
‘A request. Must I then request the privilege of speaking to you?’
‘It might be considered courteous to do so.’
‘Courteous!’ she cried. ‘Am I expected to curtsy every time I see you as well as ask permission to speak?’
Albert rose, went through to his bedroom and shut the door.
She hurried after him and when she tried to open the door found that he had turned the key in the lock.
‘Open this door at once!’ she cried.
There was no answer. Furiously she hammered with her fists on the panels.
‘Open this door!’ she commanded.
Albert was standing on the other side of it. ‘Who is that?’ he asked.
‘Who is that?’ she cried in passion. ‘You know who it is. It is the Queen.’
She waited. The door remained locked.
She took the handle and shook it.
‘Who is there?’ asked Albert.
‘The Queen is here,’ she said. ‘Open this door at once.’
She waited for the sound of a key in the lock. It did not come. She was very near to tears. She felt wretchedly unhappy. She had agreed to Lehzen’s taking a holiday and now Albert was being unkind to her.
She would not endure it. Again she hammered on the door.
That maddeningly calm voice answered: ‘Who is that?’
‘As though you don’t know!’ she cried, her voice rising to a hysterical note. ‘Open this door I say.’
‘Who is there?’ he repeated maddeningly.
‘The Queen!’ she answered regally. Silence. He would not open the door. Oh, how dared he?
She was so miserable. She wanted Albert to be kind and loving again; she could not endure these differences. Albert was right in a way. She was imperious. She did have a violent temper, and when it was roused she said things that would have been so much better left unsaid.
She wanted to lean on Albert’s chest and sob out her miseries. She wanted to tell him that only if they were together, as they had been on those blissful occasions which were all too short, could she be entirely happy. No matter who went away, she would still be happy if only Albert continued to love her.
She went back to the door and this time rapped on it somewhat gently.
Albert’s voice came again, more gentle this time. ‘Who is there?’
‘This is your wife, Albert,’ she answered tearfully.
The door was unlocked. Albert stood there, his arms outstretched.
She ran into them and clung to him.
‘Oh, Albert, never, never, never let us quarrel again.’
Chapter XII
A LONG HOLIDAY FOR THE BARONESS
The baptism of the new baby was an important occasion because the child was the heir to the throne. The chief sponsor was to be the King of Prussia who had travelled to England to fulfil his role. Albert met the King at Greenwich and travelled with him to Windsor where the Queen was waiting to receive him. Victoria had always been delighted to entertain guests particularly when the entertainment was a grand ball; and a grand ball it must be to be worthy of Frederick of Prussia.