The Shadow of Great Britain

John Russell, although not as blunt as Peel, also expressed in public speeches the expectations of the Whig Party’s Radical faction, led by him, for the Queen: ”Historically, we have had great queens, with Queen Elizabeth and Queen Anne’s reigns bringing us glorious victories. We hope to have a Queen Victoria renowned for peace in the future, who possesses neither Queen Elizabeth’s autocracy nor Queen Anne’s weakness, and is committed to the complete abolition of slavery, advocating for more civilized measures to punish crimes, and improving the nation’s educational standards. I hope, for countries around the world, for our descendants, Queen Victoria’s reign may ultimately be proven by history to be a boon.”

Compared to balancing the relationship between the two parties, gaining support from the Radical and Conservative factions in Britain’s changing society, dealing with Conroy seemed to become a trivial matter.

In fact, Arthur had handled many similar situations, and he himself was even among those who were managed.

In other words, directly taking ruthless action against Conroy at the peak of public opinion is certainly not feasible. After all, this Grand Steward of Kensington Palace has frequently appeared in public over the years, and the public’s memory of John Conroy is quite deep.

Arthur was pondering how to deal with Conroy when suddenly, there was a knock on the door outside.

Knock, knock, knock!

”Sir Arthur, Her Majesty the Queen demands to move from Kensington Palace to reside in Buckingham Palace today. She specifically requests confirmation of the security work around Buckingham Palace with you.”

...

June’s sparse sunlight scattered across the southern garden of Buckingham Palace, with dew lingering on the lawn after the night rain. A few robins hopped among the flower bushes, seemingly aware of the unusualness of this usually uninhabited palace today.

Arthur had just arrived and was led by the Marquis of Cunningham, who was retained as the Lord Chamberlain, to Buckingham Garden, saying that Her Majesty the Queen urgently wished to meet him.

The shadows of the trees in the garden swayed dappled under the sunlight, the rose trellises had just been pruned, with some leaves yet to be cleaned up on the ground. The lawn at Buckingham Palace wasn’t as large as Kensington Palace’s, but the flowers bloomed more densely, with the breeze carrying a sweet scent.

Arthur walked slowly along the gravel path into the deep garden, and from afar, he saw the eighteen-year-old girl in a white silk dress with blue flowers standing under the laurel tree, with Lady Leisen beside her, chatting and laughing.

Victoria was not tall, but perhaps because she wore the Crown, today’s sunlight made her appear uncharacteristically upright for her age. However, her skirt was somewhat too long, dragging on the ground when she walked, making it easy to trip over.

”Sir Arthur, you’re here.” Victoria heard herself say, her voice lighter than expected: ”I just saw you entering from the window.”

Arthur halted, bowed, and said, ”Summoned by Your Majesty, how dare I be late?”

Victoria laughed happily, blinking, not quite sure where to start.

Too many things happened yesterday, and today passed too quickly in the morning.

It was as though she was suddenly pushed into a brand new world, but honestly, she didn’t dislike this world.

”I’ve decided to move over today.” She looked down at the grass at her feet: ”Kensington’s house... can’t stay any longer.”

She didn’t mention her mother, nor Conroy, she didn’t want to bring them up right now.

The letter they left last night, Victoria stared at it for a long time before lifting her fingers from the paper, not bothering to write a reply, simply having someone pass the message that she followed Prime Minister Viscount Melbourne’s advice, and Buckingham Palace isn’t suitable for Conroy to move in.

The Duchess of Kent asked early this morning if she could bring Conroy to participate in her daughter’s formal coronation ceremony held at the Privy Council today. But as usual, she underestimated her daughter’s heartfelt hatred towards Conroy.

Even though the Duchess emphasized that others would notice Conroy’s absence and would say something Victoria should avoid on her first day of coronation.

But Victoria still gave the same answer, Viscount Melbourne firmly believes that Conroy should not attend.

And the Duchess of Kent’s response was to write an even more condescending reply: ”You don’t understand this world. Sir John Conroy may have his faults, he may have made some mistakes, but his intentions are always good... this matter is too much criticized, becoming deeply unpleasant. Take care, Victoria, you know your privileges! Be careful, Melbourne is not the King.”

Victoria poured out all her troubles from yesterday like beans spilling from a bamboo tube to Arthur.

Perhaps these matters could not be considered troubles for her now, she just simply wanted to talk to someone.

Yet even a girl’s grievances, once they reached Sir Arthur Hastings’ ears, they turned into extremely useful intelligence.

As Arthur anticipated, Conroy’s entanglement with Viscount Melbourne yesterday indeed received retaliation from this Whig Party Prime Minister.

However, since Viscount Melbourne didn’t have the straightforward personality of the Duke of Wellington, he didn’t explode in front, instead turning his head to start sabotaging Conroy in ceremonial occasions like the coronation ceremony, much like his double-dealing attitude towards Scotland Yard during the Cold Bath incident years ago.