Such were the views of Stockmar on the qualifications necessary for the due fulfilment of that destiny which Albert’s family had marked out for him; and he hoped, during the tour in Italy, to come to some conclusion as to how far the prince possessed them.  Albert on his side was much impressed by the Baron, whom he had previously seen but rarely; he also became acquainted, for the first time in his life, with a young Englishman, Lieutenant Francis Seymour, who had been engaged to accompany him, whom he found sehr liebens-wurdig, and with whom he struck up a warm friendship.  He delighted in the galleries and scenery of Florence, though with Rome he was less impressed.  “But for some beautiful palaces,” he said, “it might just as well be any town in Germany.”  In an interview with Pope Gregory XVI, he took the opportunity of displaying his erudition.  When the Pope observed that the Greeks had taken their art from the Etruscans, Albert replied that, on the contrary, in his opinion, they had borrowed from the Egyptians:  his Holiness politely acquiesced.  Wherever he went he was eager to increase his knowledge, and, at a ball in Florence, he was observed paying no attention whatever to the ladies, and deep in conversation with the learned Signor Capponi.  “Voila un prince dont nous pouvons etre fiers,” said the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who was standing by:  “la belle danseuse l’attend, le savant l’occupe.”

On his return to Germany, Stockmar’s observations, imparted to King Leopold, were still critical.  Albert, he said, was intelligent, kind, and amiable; he was full of the best intentions and the noblest resolutions, and his judgment was in many things beyond his years.  But great exertion was repugnant to him; he seemed to be too willing to spare himself, and his good resolutions too often came to nothing.  It was particularly unfortunate that he took not the slightest interest in politics, and never read a newspaper.  In his manners, too, there was still room for improvement.  “He will always,” said the Baron, “have more success with men than with women, in whose society he shows too little empressement, and is too indifferent and retiring.”  One other feature of the case was noted by the keen eye of the old physician:  the Prince’s constitution was not a strong one.  Yet, on the whole, he was favourable to the projected marriage.  But by now the chief obstacle seemed to lie in another quarter, Victoria was apparently determined to commit herself to nothing.  And so it happened that when Albert went to England he had made up his mind to withdraw entirely from the affair.  Nothing would induce him, he confessed to a friend, to be kept vaguely waiting; he would break it all off at once.  His reception at Windsor threw an entirely new light upon the situation.  The wheel of fortune turned with a sudden rapidity; and he found, in the arms of Victoria, the irrevocable assurance of his overwhelming fate.

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