Those Dutch boys are simply too diocre, they can hardly be called handso. I really breathed a sigh of relief when that eting finally ended. They were both so stiff, so pretentious, and extrely tedious. They looked rigid, sluggish, and had a hint of terror on their faces, not charming at all. Well, so much for the "Prince Orange Family," dear uncle!
—1835, Victoria to her uncle, Belgian King Leopold I
The court attendant led Victoria, Arthur, and Leisen through the hall carpeted in dark green, advancing along the northern wing corridor.
Hanging in the corridor were several family portraits from the tis of George III and George IV. In the corners stood so Rococo-style pink porcelains brought back from Hanover.
The attendant, while directing them forward, introduced, "Later you may have so refreshnts in the lounge; His Majesty the King is currently dealing with a military briefing in the royal study, and we have sent soone to inform him."
Buckingham Palace’s royal study is located on the southern side of the palace, which was originally a sunroom added during the expansion in George IV’s ti, facing the gardens of Buckingham Palace, allowing the King to take a stroll anyti amidst work.
Just as they were about to turn into the corridor leading to the southwest garden, they suddenly heard a gentle female voice coming from the open glass door on the left: "Delina, is that you?"
Upon hearing this, Victoria was startled and turned her head to look. It was a glass door leading to the Buckingham Palace’s Orange Garden, currently half-open, and outside the door, along the stone-paved path, was a flourishing display of red roses and deep blue irises.
Standing amidst the foliage was a middle-aged lady accompanied by several maids, enjoying the flowers.
This lady appeared to be of a similar age to Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent. She wore a high-waisted dress with faint green patterns, a flaxen soft hat, and held a parasol with a gilded ivory handle, her smile exuding warmth and unhidden affection.
Needless to say, this was Queen Adelaide of King William IV, from the Saxon-iningen family.
"Portrait of Queen Adelaide", painted in 1836 by Martin Archer Shee, President of the Royal Academy of Arts, currently housed in London’s Buckingham Palace
Queen Adelaide walked a few steps closer. When she confird it was indeed Victoria, her smile beca even broader: "Delina, it really is you?! Co, co, co over here and let your Aunt Adelaide have a look at you."
Victoria hesitated for a mont but eventually went over. Rembering her mother’s teachings, she curtsied before saying, "Aunt, His Majesty the King... is summoning us."
Lady Leisen also stepped forward and respectfully greeted, "Your Majesty the Queen, we indeed need to proceed to the royal study to et with His Majesty the King. Would it be possible to visit you afterward?"
However, the Queen seed to not hear and continued with a smile: "It doesn’t matter; isn’t His Majesty always buried in the docunts from the Privy Council and Parliant all day? Whether he wishes to see anyone depends on his mood, and since Delina is here, she ought to sit and talk with , her aunt."
She slightly raised her parasol to cover Victoria with it: "I haven’t seen you in so long, and you never write to . Are you implying your Aunt has grown old and can’t keep up with you young ladies?"
Victoria blushed and gave a shy smile.
She didn’t quite know how to respond; she couldn’t very well say that her mother didn’t allow her to write to the palace, and she herself felt there wasn’t much to write about either.
Queen Adelaide then turned to Arthur: "Sir Arthur, did you co here with them? Perhaps you could head to the royal study first and say that Her Majesty Victoria is with and will co over shortly. Does that seem appropriate to you?"
Arthur had encountered this Queen before. The year he was shot near the Tower of London, he spent so ti recuperating by the seaside.
It happened that the King and Queen were vacationing by the sea, too. The straightforward William IV didn’t care whether patients could drink; he directly sent attendants to fetch Arthur and a few other nobility vacationing at the seaside from their lodgings to join him for several days of food and drink.
The only one back then who dared to advise William IV to limit Arthur’s drinking was the devout Queen Adelaide.
Upon hearing from William IV about Arthur’s seemingly "resurrected" condition, although people called it a dical mishap, the devotional Queen believed that despite any misdiagnosis, surely it was God’s arrangent within.
Furthermore, after the recent Westminster fire, Queen Adelaide believed even more that the fire was a divine sanction against whimsical reforms by the people.
Coincidentally, the recently returned Sir Arthur Hastings appeared at the scene during the critical mont of the fire and even contributed to the tily extinguishing of the blaze.
Such coincidental events happening repeatedly led the traditionally minded Queen Adelaide to think this young knight must be a child blessed by God.
Of course, although she felt this way, she couldn’t openly say it considering the practical implications.
After all, recently when Queen Adelaide claid that the Westminster fire was God’s punishnt for radical reforms, many Radical Party dia outlets on Fleet Street imdiately piled the bla onto her, alleging things like: the King dissolved Parliant under the Queen’s influence, Viscount lbourne was dismissed at her suggestion, and that she secretly supported the opposition during the 1832 Parliantary reforms...
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