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.

II

He was not in love with her. Affection, gratitude, the natural reactions
to the unqualified devotion of a lively young cousin who was also
a queen--such feelings possessed him, but the ardours of reciprocal
passion were not his. Though he found that he liked Victoria very much,
what immediately interested him in his curious position was less her
than himself. Dazzled and delighted, riding, dancing, singing, laughing,
amid the splendours of Windsor, he was aware of a new sensation--the
stirrings of ambition in his breast. His place would indeed be a high,
an enviable one! And then, on the instant, came another thought. The
teaching of religion, the admonitions of Stockmar, his own inmost
convictions, all spoke with the same utterance. He would not be there to
please himself, but for a very different purpose--to do good. He must be
"noble, manly, and princely in all things," he would have "to live and
to sacrifice himself for the benefit of his new country;" to "use his
powers and endeavours for a great object--that of promoting the welfare
of multitudes of his fellowmen." One serious thought led on to another.
The wealth and the bustle of the English Court might be delightful f