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Queen Victoria-Part5_Lytton Strachey(1880-1932)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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by his Belgian subjects, that it must be a great compensation for all his



extreme trouble." But her other uncle by no means shared her sentiments. He

could not, he said, put up with a water-drinker; and King Leopold would touch



no wine. "What's that you're drinking, sir?" he asked him one day at dinner.

"Water, sir." "God damn it, sir!" was the rejoinder. "Why don't you drink



wine? I never allow anybody to drink water at my table."

It was clear that before very long there would be a great explosion; and in



the hot days of August it came. The Duchess and the Princess had gone down to

stay at Windsor for the King's birthday party, and the King himself, who was



in London for the day to prorogue Parliament, paid a visit at Kensington

Palace in their absence. There he found that the Duchess had just



appropriated, against his express orders, a suite of seventeen apartments for

her own use. He was extremely angry, and, when he returned to Windsor, after



greeting the Princess with affection, he publicly rebuked the Duchess for what

she had done. But this was little to what followed. On the next day was the



birthday banquet; there were a hundred guests; the Duchess of Kent sat on the

King's right hand, and the Princess Victoria opposite. At the end of the



dinner, in reply to the toast of the King's health, he rose, and, in a long,

loud, passionate speech, poured out the vials of his wrath upon the Duchess.



She had, he declared, insulted him--grossly and continually; she had kept the

Princess away from him in the most improper manner; she was surrounded by evil



advisers, and was incompetent to act with propriety in the high station which

she filled; but he would bear it no longer; he would have her to know he was



King; he was determined that his authority should be respected; henceforward

the Princess should attend at every Court function with the utmost regularity;



and he hoped to God that his life might be spared for six months longer, so

that the calamity of a regency might be avoided, and the functions of the



Crown pass directly to the heiress-presumptive instead of into the hands of

the "person now near him," upon whose conduct and capacity no reliance



whatever could be placed. The flood of vituperation rushed on for what seemed

an interminable period, while the Queen blushed scarlet, the Princess burst



into tears, and the hundred guests sat aghast. The Duchess said not a word

until the tirade was over and the company had retired; then in a tornado of



rage and mortification, she called for her carriage and announced her

immediate return to Kensington. It was only with the utmost difficulty that



some show of a reconciliation was patched up, and the outraged lady was

prevailed upon to put off her departure till the morrow.



Her troubles, however, were not over when she had shaken the dust of Windsor

from her feet. In her own household she was pursued by bitterness and vexation



of spirit. The apartments at Kensington were seething with subdued

disaffection, with jealousies and animosities virulently intensified by long



years of propinquity and spite.

There was a deadly feud between Sir John Conroy and Baroness Lehzen. But that



was not all. The Duchess had grown too fond of her Major-Domo. There were

familiarities, and one day the Princess Victoria discovered the fact. She



confided what she had seen to the Baroness, and to the Baroness's beloved

ally, Madame de Spath. Unfortunately, Madame de Spath could not hold her



tongue, and was actually foolish enough to reprove the Duchess; whereupon she

was instantly dismissed. It was not so easy to get rid of the Baroness. That



lady, prudent and reserved, maintained an irreproachable demeanour. Her

position was strongly entrenched; she had managed to secure the support of the



King; and Sir John found that he could do nothing against her. But

henceforward the household was divided into two camps.[*] The Duchess



supported Sir John with all the abundance of her authority; but the Baroness,

too, had an adherent who could not be neglected. The Princess Victoria said



nothing, but she had been much attached to Madame de Spath, and she adored her

Lehzen. The Duchess knew only too well that in this horrid embroilment her



daughter was against her. Chagrin, annoyance, moral reprobation, tossed her to

and fro. She did her best to console herself with Sir John's affectionate" target="_blank" title="a.亲爱的">affectionate






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