Chapter 13: The Princess Royal

November 1833

It was a week later. Ellen sat in her coach, heading towards Kensington Palace, the seat of the Duchess of Kent, the Princess Victoria of Sachse-Coburg-Saalfeld. She was the widow of Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearne, the fourth son of King George III. Their sole offspring, Alexandrina Victoria, styled Princess Victoria of Kent, was heir apparent to King William. Ellen was about to meet the fifteen year-old Princess at the behest of the King.

The reception was frosty. The Duchess spoke little English, and she made no effort to hide her disdain at seeing the upstart woman who, on the insistence of the King, was to tutor her daughter in worldly matters. Her daughter, who, so far, had led a sheltered and secluded life, educated by her governess and the Reverend Davys.

The Baroness Lehzen, the governess, was present when Ellen met the young Princess. Smallish, shy, nervous; those were the adjectives that came to Ellen’s mind when she curtseyed before the child. The Duchess excused herself, and Ellen, the governess and the young Princess were left to themselves. Even in the few moments, Ellen noticed a particular lack of warmth between mother and daughter.

“My Uncle tells me that you can advise me?” the child asked.

Ellen smiled, a self-deprecating smile.

“Only insofar as my own, limited knowledge will suffice, Your Highness,” she answered.

“You have visited India though, haven’t you?”

“Yes, indeed, Your Highness. What do you wish to know?”

“We shall have tea,” the girl said.

The governess pointed at the table. She and Ellen both waited until the girl was seated, before they sat themselves, assisted by footmen.

“I have studied my globe,” the Princess started the conversation again. “India is very far away. How long did you travel?”

“The journey to India took us over eight months, Your Highness. It takes that long, sailing all the way around Africa, and across the Indian Ocean. The return journey was shorter, since we tried the new Overland Route.”

“Will you show me on the globe, Lady Lambert?” the Princess asked eagerly.

Together they stood before the globe. Ellen needed a few moments to get her bearings. Then she pointed out the course of the outward journey, via St. Helena, and around the Cape of Good Hope. The Princess asked some questions, mostly about the conditions on board the ships.

Next, Ellen showed the girl the ‘Overland Route’. Again, the future queen asked questions, questions that indeed bespoke her lack of knowledge of geography and foreign policy. Ellen was secretly appalled that the future queen had not been taught the basic knowledge that she would need as monarch. She had the feeling that the girl was acutely aware of her own shortcomings. She decided to dangle a bait before the young princess’ nose.

“Of course, Your Highness, I am not as knowledgeable in these matters as my father-in-law, or even my husband. If you were to visit me, I could arrange for you to interview them, before my father-in-law will assume the command of the Mediterranean Fleet.”

“Your father-in-law is...?” the girl asked, as Ellen had expected.

“Vice Admiral Sir Anthony Carter. You will find him very knowledgeable of all matters of trade, too. My husband is on the Board of Governors of the East India Company, and he used to serve at the Foreign Office. He should also be able to answer your questions.”

“I shall ask my mother,” the girl replied, obviously interested.

“Are there other persons that you would like to meet, Your Highness?”

“My Uncle, the King, told me that you befriend Miss McAllister, the writer. Is that true?” the Princess whispered shyly.

Colleen had just published her third book, an account of the Bounty mutiny. Vice-Adm. William Bligh had been dead for a while, and it was possible now to tell the story without embarrassing any survivors. Melissa’s book was the current talk of the salons.

“I can certainly arrange for you to meet her, Your Highness. Why not command her to Kensington Palace? I am positive that she would feel honoured.”

The girl blushed.

“My mother has no love for English writers,” she whispered.

“Oh,” Ellen said. “I can arrange for Your Highness to meet her, provided His Majesty approves. I shall ask his Private Secretary.”

The young princess then proceeded to ask Ellen about her own upbringing. Ellen was candid about her youth, but she glossed over her flight from an unwanted marriage and only told her that she was taken in by the Carters, friends of her late mother, when her stepfather encountered difficulties. She noticed that the Princess had no concept of the living conditions of her future subjects either. This was something she would remedy, if she had a chance. She knew the perfect tutor, too: Lucy. Even more than Ellen, Lucy knew the hardships encountered by the vast majority of people in England, both from her own youth and from her work in the hospitals.

When Ellen left Kensington Palace, a half hour later, the Princess had eagerly asked her to expedite the visit to Lambert House. On the way home, Ellen contemplated if she was doing more than King William expected of her. She shrugged. There was only one way to find out. She would write a letter to his Private Secretary and ask for directions.

The message she received from the Private Secretary was not as clear cut as Ellen had wished. Nevertheless, she was encouraged to proceed with her plans.

In response to the written invitation she had sent to Kensington Palace, Ellen received a visit from a Major Hemmings of the Guards, who came to inspect Lambert House in preparation of the Princess’s visit. With an amused smile, Ellen watched the Major as he knocked on walls, to search for secret doors. When he had satisfied himself that the house was free of dangers, he announced the procedures for the royal visits.

Over the next weeks, the young princess visited Lambert House several times, and Ellen made sure that she met the people who could sate the future queen’s hunger for information.

Lucy had the most lasting effect. Ellen’s stepmother had no qualms whatsoever to use the time with the future monarch to press her own agenda, hospitals for the poor people. She even convinced the Baroness Lehzen of the advisability of a royal visit to the St. Albert’s Hospital. Of course, the large rooms were scrubbed meticulously, the bed-linen were shiny white, but the patients and their histories were very real.

As Lucy had noticed immediately, the young princess had a kind heart, and the sight of sick children and women touched her. Spontaneously, she offered to support the hospital charity and to serve as figurehead. Thus began the over sixty year-long tenure of the future Queen Victoria as figurehead of numerous charities. Both Lucy and Ellen felt exhilarated. They had managed to bring the Princess in touch with her future subjects.

On other fronts, the Princess spent an animated two hours in conversation with Colleen McAllister and Melissa Martin. Both were well known fixtures in London’s society, and since neither of them, by inclination, were apt to affairs with the gentlemen in the salons, the ladies who ruled London’s social life loved to include them in their functions. Thus, both young women had become seasoned tea room dwellers. Before she left that day, Melissa delighted the Princess with a charcoal sketch that she had prepared during the afternoon.

The meeting with Ellen’s father-in-law, Sir Anthony Carter, never came to pass. Anthony and Harriet Carter left for the Mediterranean in early May, after a hastily arranged farewell party. Harriet had taken her daughter-in-law aside, and in earnest tone, asked her to take care of the family in any emergencies.

Ellen knew what Harriet meant. Old Lady Lambert was still frail, although she had recuperated over the past year. Harriet knew very well that she might not see her mother again. The farewell between mother and daughter was a moving one that left Ellen full of apprehension.

Even with the Carters gone, life at Lambert House remained lively. The frequency of James Palmer’s visits increased over the weeks and months, until Ellen saw him almost daily. The effect of his attention on Maddalena was striking. The young woman who had always had a sad aura surrounding her, blossomed in James Palmer’s presence. She awaited his visits with as much eagerness as her suitor, if not more.

Many an afternoon, Maddalena and James sat alone in Melissa’s former makeshift atelier. James was somewhat of an artist himself, stemming from his interest in Roman and Greek artefacts. His obsession with the beauty of Italy and Greece was only surpassed by his increasing obsession with that living example of Italian beauty, Maddalena. James sketched Maddalena numerous times.

As their friendship progressed, Maddalena opened up to James. When he, one afternoon, merged Maddalena’s head with a sketch of a Venus statue, Maddalena shyly offered to pose in a Roman garb. Of course, propriety dictated the presence of a chaperone. Asked by Maddalena, Melissa Martin agreed to supervise those sessions. Before either of them noticed, James and Melissa were both busy sketching, enchanted by the vision of a Venus reincarnate.

Then, in August of the same year, Ellen was alerted to a visitor one afternoon. The visiting card handed to her by the old butler was impressive, with a crown and the coat of arms of the House Savoy. She received the visitor immediately. He was a small man, but erect, with a clear cut, beautiful face. Ellen blushed slightly. She had rarely seen a better example of male beauty.

“Guiseppe-Maria Robert, Conte di Castelvero, Signora,” the man introduced himself.

“Ellen Wilkes Carter, Baroness Lambert,” Ellen answered politely. “To what do we owe the honour of your Grace’s visit?”

“I have received information that my only daughter is living under your protection, Milady,” he replied in fairly flawless English.

She nodded gracefully and was met with a look of appreciation from the Count’s eyes.

“That is indeed true, your Grace. Maddalena is my dear friend, and she lives in our household as our honoured guest. I presume that you will want to interview her?”

“This is indeed the main purpose of my visit, although I must admit that meeting you, Lady Lambert, makes my being here worthwhile already.”

He was indeed a seasoned flatterer, Ellen realised with an inward smile. Well, the last man of that category was now tamed and married to Doña Maria!

“I regret to say that Maddalena is currently visiting with Lady Broughton. I expect her back in an hour, though. Would you deign to accept my invitation for a refreshment?”

“Nothing would please me more,” the count answered graciously.

“Let me arrange for tea then,” Ellen replied nicely. “Please excuse me for a moment.”

Outside the reception room, Ellen sprang into action. She wrote two billets and charged Neeta and Sadie to deliver them to Lambert&Norton and to Broughton House. She wanted Richard there, to add his weight into any argument that might break out; and she wanted to give Maddalena fair warning.

She spent the next hour, entertaining her visitor. Of course, he wanted to know about the circumstances under which his daughter lived with the Carters. Ellen assured him that Maddalena was a friend to her and that she considered her presence as a favour.

Alerted to the visit, Old Lady Lambert appeared, too. The Count bowed politely to her, complimenting her with all the ingrained continental courtesy. The old woman took the bull by the horns.

“I hope you will excuse an old woman if she does not have the patience for idle talk anymore, nor for flattering lies. I have come to know your daughter quite well over the past year, and she has become very dear to us all. She accompanied my grandson and his wife, out of the fear that her fate would be a monastery if she returned to her home. Can you tell me whether her fear was well founded?”

The Count turned a little pale under Eleanor Lambert’s scrutinising stare and shifted uncomfortably on his chair. He straightened himself though when he answered.

“I fear this is what I would be forced to do, I am ashamed to say. The custom of my home country dictates that a woman or girl unfortunate enough to lose her honour can only find refuge and forgiveness in a monasterial order. Let me also explain that I would be most distressed if my daughter choose to return to Sardinia. The reason for my visit is another one. I wanted to assure myself of her well-being and take steps to provide her with the means to secure her livelihood.”

“A dowry could indeed prove helpful,” Eleanor Lambert remarked with a benevolent smile.

The Count forgot his countenance momentarily, jumping from his chair.

“Are you implying...?”

“Yes, my dear Count. Your daughter has, over the last months, and under proper supervision I may add, grown fond of a young gentleman of excellent prospects, and I dare say that the feelings are mutual. His parents, too, have taken quite a liking to your daughter, and if the issue of a dowry can be resolved in some manner, your daughter may indeed find the happiness she so richly deserves.”