e was
to come under an alien domination--she would have to promise that she
would honour and obey... someone, who might, after all, thwart her,
oppose her--and how dreadful that would be! Why had she embarked on this
hazardous experiment? Why had she not been contented with Lord M.? No
doubt, she loved Albert; but she loved power too. At any rate, one thing
was certain: she might be Albert's wife, but she would always be Queen
of England. He reappeared, in an exquisite uniform, and her hesitations
melted in his presence like mist before the sun. On February 10, 1840,
the marriage took place. The wedded pair drove down to Windsor; but
they were not, of course, entirely alone. They were accompanied by their
suites, and, in particular, by two persons--the Baron Stockmar and the
Baroness Lehzen.

III

Albert had foreseen that his married life would not be all plain
sailing; but he had by no means realised the gravity and the
complication of the difficulties which he would have to face.
Politically, he was a cipher. Lord Melbourne was not only Prime
Minister, he was in effect the Private Secretary of the Queen, and thus
controlled the whole of the political existence of the sovereign. A
queen's husband was an entity unknown to the British Constitution. In
State affairs there seemed to be no place for him; nor was Victoria
herself at all unwilling that this should be so. "The English," she had
told the Prince when, during their engagement, a proposal had been made
to give him a peerage, "are very jealous of any foreigner interfering in
the government of this country, and have already in some of the papers
expressed a hope that you would not interfere. Now, though I know you
never would, still, if you were a Peer, they would all say, the Prince
meant to play a political part. I know you never would!" In reality, she
was not quite so certain; but she wished Albert to understand her views.
He would, she hoped, make a perfect husband; but, as for governing the
country, he would see that she and Lord M. between them could manage
that very well, without his help.

But it was not only in politics that the Prince discovered that the part
cut out for him was a negligible one. Even as a husband, he found, his
functions were to be of an extremely limited kind. Over the whole of
Victoria's private life the Baroness reigned supreme; and she had not
the slightest intention of allowing that supremacy to be diminished by
one iota. Since