money which were never repaid and amounted in all to several hundred pounds.
After the death of the Princess Charlotte it was clearly important, for more

than one reason, that the Duke of Kent should marry. From the point of view of
the nation, the lack of heirs in the reigning family seemed to make the step

almost obligatory; it was also likely to be highly expedient from the point of
view of the Duke. To marry as a public duty, for the sake of the royal

succession, would surely deserve some recognition from a grateful country.
When the Duke of York had married he had received a settlement of L25,000 a

year. Why should not the Duke of Kent look forward to an equal sum? But the
situation was not quite simple. There was the Duke of Clarence to be

considered; he was the elder brother, and, if HE married, would clearly have
the prior claim. On the other hand, if the Duke of Kent married, it was

important to remember that he would be making a serious sacrifice: a lady was
involved.

The Duke, reflecting upon all these matters with careful attention, happened,
about a month after his niece's death, to visit Brussels, and learnt that Mr.

Creevey was staying in the town. Mr. Creevey was a close friend of the leading
Whigs and an inveterate gossip; and it occurred to the Duke that there could

be no better channel through which to communicate his views upon the situation
to political circles at home. Apparently it did not occur to him that Mr.

Creevey was malicious and might keep a diary. He therefore sent for him on
some trivial pretext, and a remarkable conversation ensued.

After referring to the death of the Princess, to the improbability of the
Regent's seeking a divorce, to the childlessness of the Duke of York, and to

the possibility of the Duke of Clarence marrying, the Duke adverted to his own
position. "Should the Duke of Clarence not marry," he said, "the next prince

in succession is myself, and although I trust I shall be at all times ready to
obey any call my country may make upon me, God only knows the sacrifice it

will be to make, whenever I shall think it my duty to become a married man. It
is now seven and twenty years that Madame St. Laurent and I have lived

together: we are of the same age, and have been in all climates, and in all
difficulties together, and you may well imagine, Mr. Creevey, the pang it will

occasion me to part with her. I put it to your own feelings--in the event of
any separation between you and Mrs. Creevey... As for Madame St. Laurent

herself, I protest I don't know what is to become of her if a marriage is to
be forced upon me; her feelings are already so agitated upon the subject." The

Duke went on to describe how, one morning, a day or two after the Princess
Charlotte's death, a paragraph had appeared in the Morning Chronicle, alluding

to the possibility of his marriage. He had received the newspaper at breakfast
together with his letters, and "I did as is my constant practice, I threw the

newspaper across the table to Madame St. Laurent, and began to open and read
my letters. I had not done so but a very short time, when my attention was

called to an extraordinary noise and a strong convulsive movement in Madame
St. Laurent's throat. For a short time I entertained serious apprehensions for

her safety; and when, upon her recovery, I enquired into the occasion of this
attack, she pointed to the article in the Morning Chronicle."

The Duke then returned to the subject of the Duke of Clarence. "My brother the
Duke of Clarence is the elder brother, and has certainly the right to marry if

he chooses, and I would not interfere with him on any account. If he wishes to
be king--to be married and have children, poor man--God help him! Let him do

so. For myself--I am a man of no ambition, and wish only to remain as I am...
Easter, you know, falls very early this year--the 22nd of March. If the Duke

of Clarence does not take any step before that time, I must find some pretext
to reconcile Madame St. Laurent to my going to England for a short time. When

once there, it will be easy for me to consult with my friends as to the proper
steps to be taken. Should the Duke of Clarence do nothing before that time as

to marrying it will become my duty, no doubt, to take some measures upon the
subject myself." Two names, the Duke said, had been mentioned in this

connection--those of the Princess of Baden and the Princess of Saxe-Coburg.
The latter, he thought, would perhaps be the better of the two, from the

circumstance of Prince Leopold being so popular with the nation; but before
any other steps were taken, he hoped and expected to see justice done to

Madame St. Laurent. "She is," he explained, "of very good family, and has
never been an actress, and I am the first and only person who ever lived with

her. Her disinterestedness, too, has been equal to her fidelity. When she
first came to me it was upon L100 a year. That sum was afterwards raised to

L400 and finally to L1000; but when my debts made it necessary for me to
sacrifice a great part of my income, Madame St. Laurent insisted upon again

returning to her income of L400 a year. If Madame St. Laurent is to return to
live amongst her friends, it must be in such a state of independence as to

command their respect. I shall not require very much, but a certain number of
servants and a carriage are essentials." As to his own settlement, the Duke

observed that he would expect the Duke of York's marriage to be considered the
precedent. "That," he said, "was a marriage for the succession, and L25,000

for income was settled, in addition to all his other income, purely on that
account. I shall be contented with the same arrangement, without making any

demands grounded on the difference of the value of money in 1792 and at
present. As for the payment of my debts," the Duke concluded, "I don't call

them great. The nation, on the contrary, is greatly my debtor." Here a clock
struck, and seemed to remind the Duke that he had an appointment; he rose, and

Mr. Creevey left him.
Who could keep such a communication secret? Certainly not Mr. Creevey. He

hurried off to tell the Duke of Wellington, who was very much amused, and he
wrote a long account of it to Lord Sefton, who received the letter "very

apropos," while a surgeon was sounding his bladder to ascertain whether he had
a stone. "I never saw a fellow more astonished than he was," wrote Lord Sefton

in his reply, "at seeing me laugh as soon as the operation was over. Nothing
could be more first-rate than the royal Edward's ingenuousness. One does not

know which to admire most--the delicacy of his attachment to Madame St.
Laurent, the refinement of his sentiments towards the Duke of Clarence, or his

own perfect disinterestedness in pecuniary matters."
As it turned out, both the brothers decided to marry. The Duke of Kent,

selecting the Princess of Saxe-Coburg in preference to the Princess of Baden,
was united to her on May 29, 1818. On June 11, the Duke of Clarence followed

suit with a daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. But they were disappointed
in their financial expectations; for though the Government brought forward

proposals to increase their allowances, together with that of the Duke of
Cumberland, the motions were defeated in the House of Commons. At this the

Duke of Wellington was not surprised. "By God!" he said, "there is a great
deal to be said about that. They are the damnedest millstones about the necks

of any Government that can be imagined. They have insulted--PERSONALLY
insulted--two-thirds of the gentlemen of England, and how can it be wondered

at that they take their revenge upon them in the House of Commons? It is their
only opportunity, and I think, by God! they are quite right to use it."

Eventually, however, Parliament increased the Duke of Kent's annuity by L6000.
The subsequent history of Madame St. Laurent has not transpired.

IV
The new Duchess of Kent, Victoria Mary Louisa, was a daughter of Francis, Duke

of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and a sister of Prince Leopold. The family was an
ancient one, being a branch of the great House of Wettin, which since the

eleventh century had ruled over the March of Meissen on the Elbe. In the
fifteenth century the whole possessions of the House had been divided between

the Albertine and Ernestine branches: from the former descended the electors
and kings of Saxony; the latter, ruling over Thuringia, became further

subdivided into five branches, of which the duchy of Saxe-Coburg was one. This
principality was very small, containing about 60,000 inhabitants, but it

enjoyed independent and sovereign rights. During the disturbed years which
followed the French Revolution, its affairs became terribly involved. The Duke

was extravagant, and kept open house for the swarms of refugees, who fled
eastward over Germany as the French power advanced. Among these was the Prince

of Leiningen, an elderly beau, whose domains on the Moselle had been seized by
the French, but who was granted in compensation the territory of Amorbach in

Lower Franconia. In 1803 he married the Princess Victoria, at that time
seventeen years of age. Three years later Duke Francis died a ruined man. The

Napoleonic harrow passed over Saxe-Coburg. The duchy was seized by the French,
and the ducal family were reduced to beggary, almost to starvation. At the

same time the little principality of Amorbach was devastated by the French,
Russian, and Austrian armies, marching and counter-marching across it. For

years there was hardly a cow in the country, nor enough grass to feed a flock
of geese. Such was the desperateplight of the family which, a generation

later, was to have gained a foothold in half the reigning Houses of Europe.
The Napoleonic harrow had indeed done its work, the seed was planted; and the

crop would have surprised Napoleon. Prince Leopold, thrown upon his own
resources at fifteen, made a career for himself and married the heiress of

England. The Princess of Leiningen, struggling at Amorbach with poverty,
military requisitions, and a futile husband, developed an independence of

character and a tenacity of purpose which were to prove useful in very
different circumstances. In 1814, her husband died, leaving her with two

children and the regency of the principality. After her brother's marriage