shadow of britain

Chapter 765 Do these traitors want to make Great Britain belong to the Romanovs?

Those Dutch lads were so plain-looking, not handsome at all, I was truly relieved to finally be over the meeting. They were both so stiff, so affected, and so incredibly boring. They looked stiff, dull, and even a little frightened—not endearing at all. Well, that's all there is to the "Prince of Orange House," my dear uncle!
—A letter from Victoria to her uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium, in 1835.

Court attendants led Victoria, Arthur, and Lezen through the main hall, which was covered with dark green carpets, and along the north wing corridor.

Several family portraits from the reigns of George III and George IV hang in the corridor, and a few Rococo-style pink porcelain pieces brought back from Hanover are displayed in the corner.

As the attendant led them forward, he introduced, "You can have some tea and refreshments in the lounge later. His Majesty the King is currently in the study dealing with military briefings. We have already sent someone to inform him."

The Royal Study at Buckingham Palace is located on the south side of the palace. It was originally an extension added during the reign of George IV, a sunroom facing the palace gardens, so that the King could go out for a stroll whenever he wanted during breaks from his 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?"

Victoria was taken aback by what she heard. She turned her head and saw a glass door leading to the Orangery of Buckingham Palace. The door was half-closed, and outside the door, along the stone corridor, was a cluster of blooming red roses and deep blue irises.

Standing amidst the flowers and trees was a middle-aged lady leading several maids to admire the flowers.

The lady appeared to be about the same age as Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent. She wore a high-waisted long dress with pale green floral patterns, a linen hat, and carried a parasol with a gold-plated ivory handle. Her smile revealed a touch of kindness and undisguised affection.

Needless to say, this was none other than Queen Adelaide, wife of William IV and from the House of Saxe-Meiningen.

The portrait of Queen Adelaide, painted in 1836 by Martin Archer Hee, President of the Royal Academy, is now in Buckingham Palace, London.

Queen Adelaide took a few steps closer, and when she confirmed that the person was indeed Victoria, she couldn't stop smiling: "Delina, is it really you? Come, come, come quickly and let your Aunt Adelaide see you."

Victoria hesitated for a moment, but eventually went over. Remembering her mother's teachings, she bowed before speaking, "Aunt, His Majesty the King... is summoning us."

Lady Lezen stepped forward and respectfully greeted her, saying, "Your Majesty, we are indeed on our way to the Royal Study to see His Majesty the King. May we visit you later?"

The Queen seemed not to hear her. She smiled and said, "It's alright. Isn't His Majesty buried in memorials from the Privy Council and Parliament all day long? Whether he sees people or not depends on his mood. Since Delina is here, she should spend some time with her aunt."

She slightly raised her umbrella, pulling Victoria under it: "It's been so long since we last met, and you haven't written a letter. Do you think your aunt is too old and can't keep up with you girls?"

Victoria blushed and smiled shyly.

She didn't know how to reply. She couldn't very well say that her mother wouldn't let her write to the palace, and that she herself felt there was nothing worth writing about.

Queen Adelaide turned to Arthur: "Sir Arthur, did you come with them? Why don't you go to the Royal Study first and tell them that Her Highness Victoria is with me and will come over shortly? Is that alright?"

This wasn't the first time Arthur had seen the Queen; the year he was shot at the Tower of London, he had spent some time recuperating by the sea.

At the time, the King and Queen were also on vacation at the beach. The easygoing William IV didn't care whether the patient could drink alcohol or not. He simply sent his servants to call Arthur and several other nobles who were also on vacation at the beach out of their hotel and have them eat, drink, and have fun with him for several days.

The only person who dared to advise William IV to drink less of Arthur's wine was the extremely devout Queen Adelaide.

The queen heard about Arthur's miraculous "resurrection" from William IV. Although everyone said it was a medical accident, the queen, who believed in God, felt that even if there was a misdiagnosis, there must have been a divine arrangement.

Following the recent Westminster fire, Queen Adelaide even suggested that the fire was God's punishment for people's sudden whims and reforms.

Coincidentally, Sir Arthur Hastings, who had just returned to London, appeared at the fire scene at a critical moment and contributed to the timely extinguishing of the fire.

The repeated occurrence of such coincidences led Queen Adelaide, with her traditional values, to conclude that the young knight must be a child blessed by God.

Of course, although that's what she thought in her heart, she couldn't say it aloud considering the practical implications.

After all, when Queen Adelaide claimed that the Westminster fire was God's punishment for radical reforms, many radical media outlets on Fleet Street rushed to accuse her, such as: the King dissolved Parliament because he was influenced by the Queen; the Prime Minister, Viscount Melbourne, was dismissed at the Queen's suggestion; and the Queen supported the opposition behind the scenes during the 1832 parliamentary reforms...

The Queen herself probably didn't expect her words to cause such a huge reaction. This was the first time she had publicly discussed a social issue since William IV ascended the throne. But now it seems the effect was quite negative.

Given this, she decided to return to her old ways and continue her long-standing involvement in church charity and courtly social activities.

At least in these two respects, she has always enjoyed the support and admiration of the British people.

Before marrying her, it might be an exaggeration to call William IV a playboy, but it would be fair to say he was extravagant and unpopular with the people.

After their marriage, the thrifty and hardworking Adelaide not only helped William IV pay off his debts of over £100,000, but also persuaded him to donate most of the family income to charity. After William IV ascended the throne, Queen Adelaide consistently refused to allow women of questionable reputation or conduct into the court, and even refused to allow women who were scantily clad to attend her parties.

Although this approach was disapproved of by some liberals, the conservatives and the British public overwhelmingly supported the Queen.

It is no exaggeration to say that at least half the credit for William IV’s reputation surpassing that of his father, George III, and his brother, George IV, can be attributed to Queen Adelaide.

Arthur also had a very good impression of the Queen, not only because she had once stopped William IV from getting him drunk, but also largely due to Adelaide's character. She was indeed a kind and benevolent lady, and the schools, churches, and hospitals she funded were not only widely distributed throughout Great Britain, but also extended as far as Madeira in Portugal and the Australian colony.

During the cholera epidemic, there were initially only two hospitals in London that provided free treatment for the poor: one was the London Free General Hospital, a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of London, and the other was the Queen Adelaide Pharmacy, which was funded by Adelaide.

Although the two medical institutions belong to the radical liberal camp and the extreme conservative camp respectively, Arthur, a utilitarian disciple of Jeremy Bentham, rarely categorizes himself by political lineage and only expresses his opinion on specific issues.

Sir Arthur Hastings would support anyone who set a good example on the relevant issues, whether they were radicals or conservatives.

Therefore, Arthur readily agreed to Queen Adelaide's request.

Arthur nodded slightly and bowed to Queen Adelaide, saying, "Since Your Majesty has given the order, I will obey." The Queen nodded and casually instructed, "Don't let him get angry as soon as he sees you. Just tell him that our niece is here with me and talking to her. If he really has something important to discuss, he can come to the orange grove to find us."

Arthur smiled, bowed, and withdrew.

With Mrs. Lezen and Victoria no longer by his side, Arthur felt much more at ease.

He chatted with his attendants about the latest happenings in London, walked along the arcade through the southwest corner of Buckingham Palace, through the long windows facing the garden, and arrived at the study where William IV worked.

"Please inform him that Arthur Hastings has come to pay his respects."

The attendant standing guard outside the study bowed slightly: "Please come in, Sir. His Majesty is waiting for you."

Arthur pushed open the door and entered; the fireplace in the study was burning brightly.

An elderly man with thinning hair and a ruddy complexion was pacing back and forth in front of the window, his back to the desk.

He held the binoculars in his left hand and waved a slightly creased piece of paper in his right, speaking impatiently: "Hey Herbert, didn't I tell you to send back the marriage proposals between Württemberg and the Greeks? Tell William of Württemberg that we're not considering his son Frederick. And Otto of Greece, that young man has no chance either."

Sir Herbert Taylor stood solemnly beside the old king, conveying the opinion of Parliament: "Are you really not going to reconsider? It seems that both the Cabinet and Parliament think that you might want to take another look."

William IV was clearly furious at the government's attempt to interfere in the royal marriage. He shouted, "Then go tell them that if they are not satisfied with my decision, starting tomorrow, I will immediately begin to arrange a marriage between Deline and Alexander, the son of Tsar Nicholas of Russia!"

William IV's words immediately made both Taylor and Arthur laugh.

Although these words haven't reached Parliament's ears yet, if they knew that Britain might very well have a king named Romanov in the future, these gentlemen who had just returned from their country vacation would be burning the candle at both ends and immediately rush back to their posts.

Let alone a marriage alliance with a Russian, even a marriage alliance with the Orléans family of the July Monarchy in France would be unacceptable to Parliament under any circumstances.

The foundation upon which Britain was able to establish a constitutional monarchy was that the king had no other support.

Although the current King of Great Britain also holds the title of King of Hanover, Hanover is, after all, just a small state in Germany, so the King cannot challenge the British Parliament based on Hanover's strength.

But what if, in the future, the king's surname becomes Romanov, and he also becomes the Tsar of Russia...

Good heavens!
The scene was so beautiful that it was almost unimaginable!
From now on, our British Isles finally have their own little father, and everyone from nobles to farm laborers can be said to have been a serf.

Life is getting better and better.

Arthur coughed lightly, suppressing a laugh as he bowed to the King: "If Your Majesty truly betroths Princess to Prince Alexander, then Parliament will likely have to amend the constitution overnight, changing the Royal Marriage Act to be considered by the House of Commons."

When William IV saw Arthur arrive, he said with a dark face, "I didn't expect you to still be in the mood to laugh. It hasn't been that long since the Caucasus incident, has it? My Russian brother Nikolai wrote to me a lot about you in his letters."

Arthur was taken aback; he had almost forgotten about the Caucasus.

However, Nicholas I was quite petty; he had only made a few casual remarks.
At most, all they did was help David Urquhart arrange a ship to transport some humanitarian aid, such as sheets and blankets, to Circus.

You're asking about Colt's weaponry?

Arthur didn't think it had much to do with him; he had simply given David Urquhart Samuel Colt's business card.

This Nicholas...

Honestly, why are you still holding a grudge?

Arthur gave an awkward laugh.

It was only then that William IV noticed Arthur had come alone: ​​"Where is Deline? Didn't she come with you?"

Arthur nodded: "His Highness is chatting with Her Majesty the Queen in the orange grove. Her Majesty instructed me to convey that she wishes to speak with the Princess for a while first, and then have the Princess come to pay her respects later."

William IV was about to get angry, but when he heard that it was the Queen who had stopped him, he put down his binoculars, waved his hand, and said, "Very well, very well. Now that she's here, why don't you tell me how she's been doing at Kensington these days? You can skip the less important stuff like electromagnetism for now, and just talk about literature and history."

"Your Highness has recently been focusing on reviewing Latin and French grammar. In terms of reading, you have just finished reading Tennyson's poetry collection and have just started reading Shakespeare."

William IV raised an eyebrow, turned and walked back to his desk: "Shakespeare, that's serious stuff. Which books did she read?"

"I recently finished reading King Lear and am now reading As You Like It. In addition, I have arranged for her to read Othello and Henry V next."

William IV gave a soft hum, seemingly satisfied yet still somewhat doubtful: "That's a good choice. King Lear will teach her to see the hypocrisy of family ties, while As You Like It will teach her to read between the lines and not be blinded by sweet talk. And, has she said... which character she likes the most?"

Connecting the dots from their previous conversation, Arthur easily figured out what William IV wanted to ask.

He knew that the sailor king was subtly probing, trying to understand Victoria's ideal spouse through artistic portrayals. In aristocratic circles, it was not uncommon for elders to inquire about the romantic inclinations of younger generations by discussing plays or novels; this was both sophisticated and avoided awkwardness.

But when this problem was put in Arthur's hands, he had no choice but to consider it carefully.

Arthur first recalled Alexander, the son of Nicholas I, and then racked his brains to find a literary figure as different as possible from Alexander.

(End of this chapter)