That “unknown little girl” was an elder
sister of Miss Kortright. My friend also says
that the Duchess of Kent and her daughters frequently
on summer afternoons took tea on the lawn, “in
sight of admiring promenaders, with a degree of publicity
which now sounds fabulous.”
It was then safe and agreeable for that quiet, refined
family, only because the London “Rough”—that
ugly, unwholesome, fungous growth on the fine old
oak of English character—had not made his
unwelcome appearance in all the public parks of the
metropolis. Our friend also states that so simple
and little-girlish was the Princess in her ways that,
later on, she was known to go with her mother or sister
to a Kensington milliner’s to buy a hat, stay
to have it trimmed, and then carry it (or more likely
the old one) home in her hand. I should like to
see a little Miss Vanderbilt do a thing of that kind!
The Kents and Leiningens—if I may speak
so familiarly of Royal and Serene Highnesses—when
away from the quiet home in Kensington, spent much
time at lovely Claremont as guests of the dear brother
and Uncle Leopold. They seem also to have travelled
a good deal in England, visiting watering-places and
in houses of the nobility, but never to have gone
over to the Continent. The Duchess probably felt
that the precious life which she held in trust for
the people of England might possibly be endangered
by too long journeys, or by changes of climate; but
what it cost to the true German woman to so long exile
herself from her old home and her kindred none ever
knew—at least none among her husband’s
unsympathetic family—for she was, as a Princess,
too proud to complain; as a mother, cheerful in her
devotion and self-abnegation.
Queen-making not a Light Task—Admirable
Discipline of the Duchess of
Kent—Foundation of the Character and Habits
of the future Queen—Curious
Extract from a Letter by her Grandmamma—A
Children’s Ball given by
George IV. to the little Queen of Portugal—A
Funny Mishap—Death of
George IV.—Character of his Successor—Victoria’s
first appearance at a
Drawing-room—Her absence from the Coronation
of William IV.
Queen-making is not a light task. It is no fancywork
for idle hours. It is the first difficult draft
of a chapter, perhaps a whole volume, of national
history.
No woman ever undertook a more important labor than
did the widowed Duchess of Kent, or carried it out
with more faithfulness, if we may judge by results.
The lack of fortune in the family was not an unmixed
evil; perhaps it was even one of those disagreeable
“blessings in disguise,” which nobody
welcomes, but which the wise profit by, as it caused
the Duchess to impress upon her children, especially
the child Victoria, the necessity of economy, and
the safety and dignity which one always finds in living
within one’s income. Frugality, exactitude
