The Shadow of Great Britain

”He is always like this...” Victoria said softly, her eyes slightly reddened: ”When I’m about to break down, he gives me something... something that keeps me going.”

Leisen remained silent, simply raising her hand to tidy the stray locks of hair framing Victoria’s face.

At this moment, a gentle knock came from outside the door, followed by the attendant’s slightly urgent yet suppressed voice, ”Her Majesty the Queen, Prime Minister Viscount Melbourne, Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, Viscount Palmerston, and others, they have all dispatched messengers. Your Excellencies are expected to arrive at Kensington Palace within two hours.”

Finally, as if worried that Victoria might not be clear about the rules, the attendant added, ”Your Majesty, as per the constitutional provisions, upon succession, you must receive advice from the Prime Minister regarding the duties and conduct of a monarch.”

Victoria did not immediately rise; she merely took a deep breath, rolled up the scroll of parchment, and placed it back on the table.

Then, she stood up, turned to the door, and asked, ”Sir Arthur, is he still in Kensington?”

The attendant was momentarily stunned, but quickly reacted: ”You could have him join for breakfast; Sir Arthur seems to have been occupied with matters of succession all night.”

Victoria nodded slightly: ”Then please ask Sir Arthur to move to the dining room, as well as summon Baron Stockma for me.”

...

The fire in the reception room had already been stoked, casting wavering patterns of light on the oak paneling, resembling a lion’s mane, gently trembling.

Today, Kensington Palace was much livelier than usual, with many political heavyweights, who rarely visited, gathering here.

The Duke of Wellington sat in a high-backed armchair by the fireplace, leaning on his cane, his silver hair meticulously groomed.

His gaze fixed on the flickering flames in the fireplace, like a general surveying a battlefield, he asked, ”When can Parliament reconvene for the swearing-in?”

Viscount Melbourne, from his seat opposite the fireplace, raised his head. Although esteemed as Prime Minister and from a different party than the Duke of Wellington, he still dared not neglect this national hero: ”The notice to convene both Houses was sent out at four thirty this morning. According to the provisions of William III, Chapter 15 of the Acts 7 and 8, Upper House Members are to immediately proceed to the palace upon receiving the notice. The Upper House is scheduled to gather at ten fifteen this morning, with the earliest possible start for the swearing-in at eleven. As for the Lower House, due to the larger number of Lower House Members, notifying them takes more time, and their swearing-in ceremony is estimated to start at twelve.”

Viscount Melbourne said this while gently taking out a neatly folded letter from his breast pocket and pushing it to the center of the coffee table.

”This is a letter I received the day before yesterday, written by Dr. Clark.”

The Duke of Wellington did not open the envelope, though he had heard a little about the matter: ”I heard that lately many have been speaking ill of Princess Victoria... no, Her Majesty the Queen, in your ear?”

Viscount Melbourne glanced around, then nodded slightly: ”Indeed, many people, and you probably understand who is behind them. They do everything they can to make me believe Her Majesty the Queen is frequently in a state of nervous breakdown and incoherence. You might have encountered similar situations on your side, right? The letter from Dr. Clark was specifically written to explain this to me.”

”What did he say?”

”Clark swears by his honor before God, declaring that he finds no mental issues with Her Majesty the Queen and is even willing to stake his life and fortune on it.”

The Duke of Wellington nodded slightly: ”Clark is a meticulous person, never making hasty judgments. If he says there’s no problem, then there’s no problem.”

With that, he looked up at Viscount Melbourne: ”Since there is no substantial evidence, if anyone dares to raise the Regency Bill again, I will certainly go to the Upper House to defend Her Majesty the Queen.”

Viscount Melbourne, seeing that he and the Duke of Wellington were on the same page regarding the regency issue, finally relaxed: ”I’m glad we could come to an agreement, Your Excellency.”

Though Conroy has always been close to the Whig Party, and often sided with the Radical Liberal Party in order to garner Whig support for Kensington Palace, speaking out for them from time to time.

However, just as Robert Peel is often joked about as being a Whig among Conservatives, Viscount Melbourne is frequently considered a Conservative among Whigs.

Especially in the current context, with the Whig Party vigorously suppressing the Radicals, Viscount Melbourne is even less inclined to see someone like Conroy emerge as regent.

Moreover, even if one were to put aside Conroy’s political views, Viscount Melbourne does not believe he possesses the capability to assist the Duchess of Kent in a regency.

Over the past month or two, he has had private conversations with many individuals associated with Kensington Palace, and their responses could nearly all be summed up in a single sentence from Baron Stockma: ”Though I frequently agree with Sir John on presenting a favorable image of the Princess, Sir John’s moods are extremely erratic and indiscreet, so even if they manage to make him private secretary, he won’t take long to get himself into trouble due to his own foolishness.”

In contrast to Baron Stockma’s assessment, Sir Arthur Hastings’ evaluation of Conroy is even more blunt: ”As an old policeman and frequent visitor of the courts, whether from a legal perspective or the common understanding of the people, I have no doubt that if the Upper House wishes to initiate an investigation, Sir John Conroy’s actions in the Ramsgate incident would already constitute preliminary treason.”