Read Online Victoria Confesses (9781442422469) by Carolyn Meyer - Free Book Online
Authors: Carolyn Meyer
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with me.â
Daisy sighed. âYouâre right, of course. I shall try to explain matters to you as I see them.â
âWithout glossing over the truth, however unpleasant,â I prompted.
âWithout glossing over the truth,â she promised, and we walked on together while I continued to gather a soggy, dripping bouquet.
At the root of the problem, according to Lehzen, was Mammaâs refusal to recognize the kingâs illegitimate sons and daughters. âThe duchess has always behaved uncivilly to les bâtards , even when she was a guest at Windsor Castle, the kingâs own house, and he resents it.â
âBut they werenât even present at the ball! It was horribly embarrassing!â
âI donât know, but I suspect that something must have been said to upset her. The king is much perturbed by what he calls the Royal Progresses arranged by Sir John, traveling round the countryside and being greeted as though you are already the queen and he no longer exists. King William has sent word that whenever you and your mother are sailing on one of his majestyâs ships, you are not to receive the naval saluteâthe âpop-pop,â as he calls it.â
I nodded, remembering that guns were always fired as a greeting when the dear Emerald arrived in a harbor. I thought it was how everyone with a royal title was greeted.
âWhen the kingâs message was delivered to your mother, she immediately called on Sir John. He told her as her confidential advisor that he could not possibly recommend that she yield on this issue. The duchess took Sir Johnâs advice and informed the kingâs Privy Council that she would expect to continue to receive the naval salutes. She believes sheâs entitled. The king then convinced the Privy Council to issue an order stating that only the ships with the king and queen on board are to be given a naval salute. And that further infuriated your mother.â
Everything the king did made Mamma furious.
âEven without a naval salute, you are always the cause of much excitement among the crowds that turn out to see you,â Daisy continued.
âThat canât be helped, can it?â I asked.
âNo, my dear Victoria, it cannot. There is nothing you can do to change the situation, and Iâm afraid it will not improve.â Then she added, âLet us speak no more of it.â
I flung aside the sodden bouquet. All of this saddened me VERY much, and I wished that I could write it all down in my journal. But that was out of the question, for Mamma read every word I wrote. Dearest Daisy did not wish to discuss it further, and my tattered Fidi doll could give me no advice.
What if I kept a secret diary for my eyes alone? I thought. Then I could write whatever I please! But I quickly dismissed that notion. I couldnât risk being found out. I would simply have to endure.
Chapter 10
M ORE V ISITORS , 1834
For much of that winter I felt poorly, and in the early spring I suffered from a succession of indispositions: headaches, backaches, sore throats, stuffy noses, and a persistent cough. Mamma worried and fretted and often visited my bedside, but it was dearest Lehzen who sat quietly nearby hour after hour, reading to me and coaxing me to swallow ill-tasting potions.
In mid-April I at last felt well enough to go out. We attended an opera, Anna Bolena , the story of that unhappy wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn. It was made VERY enjoyable by the singing of Giulia Grisi, an excessively pretty young woman who acted and sang most sweetly and beautifully. I was VERY MUCH AMUSED and honored Madame Grisiâs performance with a watercolor in my sketchbook.
In May the arrival of more visitors pleased us all. One was Mammaâs brother Ferdinand, whom she had not seen sincebefore I was born; the second was my brother Charles. But the best was yet to come: on the fifth of June my DEAREST sister Fidi and her husband and two
Daisy sighed. âYouâre right, of course. I shall try to explain matters to you as I see them.â
âWithout glossing over the truth, however unpleasant,â I prompted.
âWithout glossing over the truth,â she promised, and we walked on together while I continued to gather a soggy, dripping bouquet.
At the root of the problem, according to Lehzen, was Mammaâs refusal to recognize the kingâs illegitimate sons and daughters. âThe duchess has always behaved uncivilly to les bâtards , even when she was a guest at Windsor Castle, the kingâs own house, and he resents it.â
âBut they werenât even present at the ball! It was horribly embarrassing!â
âI donât know, but I suspect that something must have been said to upset her. The king is much perturbed by what he calls the Royal Progresses arranged by Sir John, traveling round the countryside and being greeted as though you are already the queen and he no longer exists. King William has sent word that whenever you and your mother are sailing on one of his majestyâs ships, you are not to receive the naval saluteâthe âpop-pop,â as he calls it.â
I nodded, remembering that guns were always fired as a greeting when the dear Emerald arrived in a harbor. I thought it was how everyone with a royal title was greeted.
âWhen the kingâs message was delivered to your mother, she immediately called on Sir John. He told her as her confidential advisor that he could not possibly recommend that she yield on this issue. The duchess took Sir Johnâs advice and informed the kingâs Privy Council that she would expect to continue to receive the naval salutes. She believes sheâs entitled. The king then convinced the Privy Council to issue an order stating that only the ships with the king and queen on board are to be given a naval salute. And that further infuriated your mother.â
Everything the king did made Mamma furious.
âEven without a naval salute, you are always the cause of much excitement among the crowds that turn out to see you,â Daisy continued.
âThat canât be helped, can it?â I asked.
âNo, my dear Victoria, it cannot. There is nothing you can do to change the situation, and Iâm afraid it will not improve.â Then she added, âLet us speak no more of it.â
I flung aside the sodden bouquet. All of this saddened me VERY much, and I wished that I could write it all down in my journal. But that was out of the question, for Mamma read every word I wrote. Dearest Daisy did not wish to discuss it further, and my tattered Fidi doll could give me no advice.
What if I kept a secret diary for my eyes alone? I thought. Then I could write whatever I please! But I quickly dismissed that notion. I couldnât risk being found out. I would simply have to endure.
Chapter 10
M ORE V ISITORS , 1834
For much of that winter I felt poorly, and in the early spring I suffered from a succession of indispositions: headaches, backaches, sore throats, stuffy noses, and a persistent cough. Mamma worried and fretted and often visited my bedside, but it was dearest Lehzen who sat quietly nearby hour after hour, reading to me and coaxing me to swallow ill-tasting potions.
In mid-April I at last felt well enough to go out. We attended an opera, Anna Bolena , the story of that unhappy wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn. It was made VERY enjoyable by the singing of Giulia Grisi, an excessively pretty young woman who acted and sang most sweetly and beautifully. I was VERY MUCH AMUSED and honored Madame Grisiâs performance with a watercolor in my sketchbook.
In May the arrival of more visitors pleased us all. One was Mammaâs brother Ferdinand, whom she had not seen sincebefore I was born; the second was my brother Charles. But the best was yet to come: on the fifth of June my DEAREST sister Fidi and her husband and two
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