The Shadow of Great Britain

”Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Lord Lindhurst shook his head with a slightly theatrical tone. ”I knew that King of Belgium was up to no good.”

”Ever since he ascended the throne in 1831, has there been a single visit to Britain that wasn’t for this matter?” The Earl of Ellenborough calmly put down his newspaper. ”Only this time he’s learned to be clever: instead of charging in himself, he’s trying to get through to the people around Her Majesty the Queen by taking a detour.”

The Earl of Aberdeen, who had served as Foreign Secretary, also disliked the Belgians’ methods. ”Leopold wants to be a member of the Nobility and a businessman at the same time. He wants to curry favor with London, yet cling to Paris’s thigh—where in the world do you find such a bargain? But that aside, why didn’t he go to his sister? Does the Duchess of Kent not have more of a say than anyone else in her daughter’s marriage?”

The Duke of Wellington, who knew something of Kensington Palace, coughed lightly at that. ”You don’t know yet? The Queen has fallen out with her mother. I heard from Greville that the two of them have been at loggerheads again lately over Conroy’s rewards and titles.”

”I did in fact meet that lad Albert once last year at Windsor,” Lord Stanley recalled. ”He’s a properly brought-up young nobleman, nothing about him that invites dislike—but he doesn’t seem to have any particularly striking strengths either...”

Peel’s eyebrows drew together slightly, and he turned to Disraeli. ”Has Arthur promised the Belgians anything?”

”That, I don’t know.” Disraeli shook his head decisively. ”I wasn’t present at the time, and he himself hasn’t revealed the details of their conversation.”

”That’s easy to find out.” Lindhurst interjected. ”Just watch how the telegraph construction in Belgium progresses over the next few months—whether Government appropriations go through smoothly, whether approvals for new projects are issued. From these things, you can tell just by reading the newspapers; there’s no need to specially plant informants over in Belgium.”

Lord Stanley, who had had little direct contact with Arthur, frowned. ”Hasting surely wouldn’t be so foolish as to take money himself, would he?”

”Of course he’s not a fool,” Peel commented. ”But he’s far bolder than you imagine.”

”Enough.” The Duke of Wellington raised his cane and gave the floor a light tap. ”What good does it do to fixate on that young fellow Hastings? The crux of the matter is not him, but Her Majesty the Queen. What do you think of Her Majesty’s marriage? If she really is dead set on choosing someone from the Coburg family, how should we respond?”

Peel, hearing this, replied with a question of his own. ”Do you still support George, the son of the Duke of Cumberland?”

”That would of course be the best choice.” The Duke of Wellington began. ”A devout young man of the National Church of England, well-educated, himself a scion of the Hanover Royal Family, and the first in line to inherit the Kingdom of Hanover. If the Queen were to marry her cousin George, then Britain and the Kingdom of Hanover could reconstitute their Personal Union. And from the standpoint of Army development and maintaining our influence on the European Continent, Hanover’s geographical position and excellent manpower are of great importance to us.”

Here the Duke of Wellington paused for a moment. ”However, that is merely my own wishful thinking. Whoever Her Majesty ultimately chooses, I shall support her decision.”

No sooner had the Duke of Wellington finished than Lord Lindhurst let out a soft, derisive laugh.

”Your Excellency, that fine discourse of yours certainly sounds very reasonable.” He slowly picked a cigar from his case, pinched it between his fingers, and paused. ”But let me risk a word of reminder: in politics, one cannot look only at bloodline, faith, and manpower.”

Peel glanced at him, seeming already to have guessed what he was about to say.

Lindhurst lightly tapped the lid of the cigar case. ”George, the son of the Duke of Cumberland, is indeed a legitimate scion of the Royal Family, and he has just been appointed his father’s Regent King in the Kingdom of Hanover. But if I’m not mistaken... the Duke of Cumberland had been on the Hanover throne for less than a month before he suspended the 1833 Hanover Constitution.”

As soon as these words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the room changed at once.

”That constitution was promulgated by his brother, King William IV, with his own hand.” The relatively moderate Earl of Aberdeen frowned. ”And his reason for abolishing it was no more than ’Hanover has no need of a parliamentary Kingdom,’ without even going through the proper legal procedures.”

”Indeed.” Lindhurst shrugged with a half-smile. ”So here we are: this King restores absolutism in Hanover for himself, then turns around and wants to send his son over to be British King’s Consort. Tell me, if this news gets out, what sort of public outcry will it trigger at home? Londoners may not be as radical as Parisians, but they are certainly far harder to govern than Hanoverians. During the last round of riots over parliamentary reform, it was our respectable Sir Arthur Hastings who took a bullet. If we drag him out to take the shot again this time, I fear it will chill his heart, don’t you think?”

Disraeli sat upright in his chair, appearing as though he did not dare to intervene in the quarrel among their Excellencies.

In reality, he had long anticipated that Lord Lindhurst would speak out against a marriage alliance between the Queen and the Cumberland family.

He couldn’t help it; after all, the Duke of Cumberland had once humiliated Lady Lindhurst at a banquet hosted by Lord Lindhurst.

Lord Stanley pondered aloud. ”Even leaving aside the political risks such a match might entail, purely from the emotional angle, Her Majesty the Queen seems to have little affection for the Cumberland family. I’ve heard that earlier on, Her Majesty once asked the Duke of Cumberland to vacate his suite at St. James’s Palace for the Duchess of Kent to live in, but the Duke of Cumberland flatly refused. What’s more, he apparently persuaded his two younger brothers, the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of Cambridge, to likewise reject Her Majesty’s request.”