The Queen's Husband (9 page)

Albert did not answer. He knew that Uncle Leopold wished him to be the bridegroom and that was good enough. He was sure that even the King of England could not stop Uncle Leopold’s desires.

‘Now, Albert, I don’t think you should have come up here to sleep so soon. It appears that you are not as eager as you should be for the company of your dear little cousin. Don’t forget the King favours Oranges. It is not going to be as easy as we thought. You – or I – have to go in and win.’

‘Stop it, Ernest. I don’t care for such jokes.’

‘Well get up and we will join the Princess and say that we needed only a little rest. You show her the tricks your greyhound does and train her Dash to do them. Or you can sing a duet with her. You really must wake up.’

Albert allowed himself to be persuaded.

The pace was great. The little cousin seemed indefatigable. She never seemed to stop still for a moment. It was not very restful, thought Albert, and he was nostalgic for the pine forests and the quiet life of Rosenau. He must not allow Victoria to see this. He remembered his interviews with Uncle Leopold. ‘You are a younger son and Ernest will take your father’s title, but you, of course, will have to make a place for yourself.’ That place could be here in this rather strange country, whose language he could not adequately understand; he had had a few English lessons and although he had done well on paper, when these people spoke he could not very easily understand them. Victoria obligingly used his language; he would have felt happier if he could have spoken in hers. He would ask Uncle Leopold what should be done about this. So … he was interested in his cousin. Not as a woman; there was no question of what Ernest would call falling in love. This was his future if all went according to Uncle Leopold’s plans; and Victoria was eager to please them and win their approval; she was delighted to have her cousins with her; so, if she became the Queen of this country, as her husband, he would be King; and there could be no doubt whatsoever that the King of England would be a far more powerful man than any little king, prince or duke of one of the German States.

Therefore he must please Victoria. It was gratifying to realise that he did. At breakfast time he could feel in good spirits and amuse her with remarks which she considered extremely funny; he could play with Dash in a way she found amusing. Her loud laughter rang out continually.

‘Oh, Cousin Albert, you are
so
amusing.’

Then there was music. She really did have an understanding of it. ‘I have
always
loved it. One birthday we had a concert in the palace. I have
never
forgotten it.’

She must hear Albert sing one of his songs. ‘But, Cousin Albert, how
very
clever of you to compose that. Could we sing my favourite duet together?’

Their voices harmonised. The Duchess sat tapping her foot while they sang with Duke Ernest beside her looking very pleased.

There was a visit to Windsor to call on the King, who received them rather coolly although the Queen was kind. Albert noticed that the King was very old and by no means in good health. It seemed possible that in a short time Victoria would be Queen. Albert was impressed by Windsor; his spirits rose and he immediately felt better, more alive, to be in the country. The chestnut trees were magnificent, and the may blossom was just about to break out, and the forest reminded him of home. In such surroundings he would feel well and perhaps not be so tormented by his desire for Coburg as he had imagined. And the castle was magnificent. The elaborate staterooms amazed him; there was nothing like those deep-piled carpets and rich velvet gold-fringed curtains in his father’s houses. All this would be hers one day if the present King had no children, which was now almost a certainty.

Albert began to feel excited by his destiny. He felt sure that he would be able to guide his gay little cousin.

Oh, but the energy of the little creature! Albert’s greatest problem was to keep his eyes open while she chattered away. She wanted to dance every evening; nor was she content if they retired before two o’clock. It was not only that he had to fight the terrible drowsiness which beset him, but his fatigue almost bordered on illness. His step-mother said he had grown too fast, for as a child he had always been much shorter than Ernest; now he had shot up suddenly and was as tall.

The day before Victoria’s birthday, which was to have a very special entertainment, he felt so tired that he could not stay awake. The Duchess of Kent, who was very kind to him, noticed that he was looking delicate and suggested that he should retire early. He blessed her. How kind she was, how thoughtful! Victoria’s blue eyes were round with dismay.
Dear
Albert. How very concerned she was! He
must
be well by tomorrow because she could not
bear
him to be ill on her birthday. Oh, the joy of being in bed, to sleep and sleep and sleep.

On her birthday there was a ball at St James’s Palace. Another of those interminable balls. When I marry her I shall make it a rule that we rise early (for the early morning is the best time of the day) and retire not later than ten o’clock, he promised himself. But he was not married to her yet, and as Ernest had said, it would be for her to choose. Perhaps she would choose Ernest, whose gay temperament was more like her own.

He was at present too tired to care.

It was unthinkable that he, as one of the principal guests, could sit out during the dance. He had to get on to the floor to bow and prance, as he thought of it. He felt giddy and feared he was going to faint. It was her hand that steadied him; and those big blue eyes looked tenderly up at him.

‘Albert, do you feel ill?’

He swayed and she led him to a chair.

The Duchess was beside him. ‘My dear Albert, you are not feeling well?’

He sat down and closed his eyes.

The Duchess said that he must go back to Kensington and that she would arrange this without delay.

So while Victoria danced at her birthday ball, Albert slept as the carriage took him through the streets and he was relieved to reach his bedroom.

But of course this was no way to impress his future bride.

He could not help being pleased when it was time to return home, although that dreadful sea crossing had to be faced before they could reach that haven.

Ernest was now certain that the Princess Victoria had chosen him.

‘Never mind, Albert,’ he said. ‘I shall rule England but I’ll let you have Coburg as a consolation prize.’

Albert was not so sure. He remembered the way she had looked at him when he had nearly fainted on the ballroom floor. She was a very affectionate little person and everyone must admit that he was more handsome than Ernest. Moreover he had quickly discovered the kind of conversation that she found amusing and she had laughed very readily even when he had not been exactly witty. Yes, she had laughed more readily at his jokes than those of Ernest; and then he had been so good with her dogs who clearly meant a great deal to her.

She was a very warm-hearted girl and one, he believed, who would be easy to mould. He would have been feeling very hopeful but for that incessant fatigue which he could not overcome however much he tried. They had music in common. She really did love it and she became quite beautiful when she listened to some particular pieces. She chattered animatedly about the famous singers she had heard and he was impressed, for such people never came to Germany. The fact that Albert had actually composed songs delighted her. ‘But how
clever
. But
that
is wonderful.’ And then their voices had harmonised charmingly.

When they said goodbye she wept openly. Her emotions, he told himself, were superficial. There would be a great deal which he would have to teach her, but he could look forward to the task; and having met her, marriage was no longer repugnant to him, which he had feared it might be.

It was not long after their return that news came from Uncle Leopold. The visit had been a great success, and to Ernest’s astonishment and Albert’s delight, Albert was the one who had pleased her best.

She had written to Uncle Leopold that Albert possessed every quality that she could desire to make her happy. She did mention though that she wanted special care taken of the health of ‘one now
so dear
to me’, which was an oblique reference to his exhaustion in the ballroom. Even so Uncle Leopold was pleased. Now plans must be set in motion in earnest.

  Chapter IV