Prisoners in the Palace (13 page)

Running her eyes up and down Liza’s body, Mrs. Cavendish murmured, “Same height, same shoulders. But I’ll have to leave several more inches in the waist if the Princess is going to fit. Thank ye dearie, I’d be grateful for the help.”

Liza took the Princess’s place on the stool.

This should have been my fitting. Victoria has everything. Why does she have to take my dress too?

“It’s a lovely dress, even with the Duchess’s alterations. And this fabric is fit for a Princess!” Mrs. Cavendish chuckled at her own joke as the shape of a ball gown magically materialized from her quick hands.

“What kind of sleeve does she want?” Liza asked.

“Oh, what do all the girls want?” She looked up at Liza, and sketched the shape in the air. “Leg of mutton sleeves. I’ll do them in
white. They’ll be tight around the upper arm, full at the elbow and then gathered at the wrist.”

“May I suggest you make a separate set of sleeves with the fullness at the upper arm?” Liza said. “The Princess does not have the figure to be flattered by the sleeve you describe.”

Mrs. Cavendish nodded.

“And,” added Liza, feeling very daring, “do the Princess this favor, cut the armhole a trifle wider than usual. She’s going to be dancing the whole night through, I’ll wager. She’ll appreciate being able to move her arms. And I’ll be grateful if she’s not sore and chafed the next morning.”

The dressmaker smiled as she pushed in the pin about the waist. “Not many of my ladies think to ask for that. You know something about fashion, I daresay.”

“My mama always said fashion doesn’t have to be uncomfortable,” Liza confided. “But still she insisted I wear a corset, that wretched torture device.”

“One’s about moving easy, the other’s about decency.” Mrs. Cavendish stepped back. “What do you think?”

“You’re a marvel, Mrs. Cavendish. It is a beautiful dress,” Liza said, with a sigh for the ensemble she would never wear.

The dressmaker circled around Liza, adjusting here and pulling there. “Most of my other young ladies and mamas are excited to plan a gown together,” she said thoughtfully. “Not those two. Always quarreling.”

Liza and her mother had enjoyed every step of designing a new dress. Her papa had teased that they had no use for him, so long as they had a dressmaker, milliner, and cobbler, but Liza would have gladly have given away all the beautiful clothes in the world if she could only have her father—her family—back.

“Liza, the princes will be here any moment. Hurry up!”

Victoria’s long hair slipped through Liza’s fingers. She wished the Princess would sit still.

“I’m going as quickly as I can,” she said.

“I must be in the hall when they arrive.”

“There!” Liza pushed in the final hairpin.

“Ouch!” Victoria glared at Liza.

“You told me to hurry, Princess.”

Victoria forgot all recriminations when she saw her reflection in the looking glass. She pirouetted around the bedroom. Her dress was a delightful white-and-rose satin with pale pink bows across the width of
the skirt. She looked like a summer day next to Liza’s plain white blouse and gray worsted skirt.

“How do I look?” Victoria asked.

“Lovely,” said Liza.

“Really lovely? Or just a little lovely?”

“Princess, you look wonderful,” Liza said. “These colors flatter your complexion.”

The Princess looked again in the mirror. “Do you think the dress makes me look too young?”

Liza tilted her head and considered. “Well, the bodice could be adjusted a bit.” She tugged at the fabric and pinned it back so that more of the Princess’s bosom lay exposed.

“Liza, perfect!” the Princess cried. “Do you think he will like me?”

“Which one? Ernst or Albert?”

“Haven’t you been paying attention? Albert, of course. He’s the eligible one.” She smoothed the ribbon around her waist. “Mama has her heart set on him.”

Tears sprang to Liza’s eyes.

Who will pick a husband for me?

She gave herself a bracing shake.

I’ll have to arrange my own marriage.

The Duchess, followed by the Baroness Lehzen, bustled into the bedroom, her face beaming.

“Victoria, they are finally here!”

Victoria jumped up and down with delight. “We should be at the porte cochere to meet them.”

“Victoria, don’t be so eager. It’s not dignified,” scolded the Duchess, but she couldn’t hide her pleasure at Victoria’s enthusiasm. If she could marry Victoria to her choice, the Duchess could control her well into adulthood.

The Duchess inspected Victoria’s ensemble. “I don’t recall the neckline being so low,” she frowned. “But there’s no time now to fix it; they are arriving. I will greet them outside. You wait on the stairs.”

Moments later, the Princess fidgeted at the top of the double marble staircase. Liza moved forward to take her arm.

Victoria couldn’t contain her nerves. “How do I look?” she asked again.

“Charming.” Liza smiled. The sparkle in the Princess’s eyes made her all the more attractive.

“I think I should stand here,” Victoria said. “Then he won’t know how short I am until he’s already admired me.” She crinkled her nose at Liza’s close presence. “Step back, Liza. I don’t want Albert to think of me as a child who needs help going down the stairs!”

The Duchess made her entrance on the arm of a handsome man who resembled her. Behind him were two adolescent boys, clearly brothers. The eldest looked about him with an open and sunny countenance. The younger, the famous Albert, hung back. His cheeks were round and he was starting a mustache. He was grimacing and his hand rested on his abdomen as though he had a bilious stomach.

Victoria called out to them, “Cousins, welcome, welcome!” If there were any flaws in her Prince, Victoria didn’t see them.

18 May 1836 Excerpt from the Journal of Her Royal Highness Victoria

At a ¼ to 2 we went down into the Hall to receive my uncle Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and my Cousins, Ernst and Albert, his sons. Albert, who is just as tall as Ernst but stouter, is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same color as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful; c’est a la fois, full of goodness and sweetness and very clever and intelligent.

Tucked away in the chaperone’s corner of the Duchess’s sitting room, Liza decided Albert was anything but charming. After a week, even Victoria was finding conversation difficult.

The Princess asked the Prince, “Are you excited about my birthday ball?”

Without taking his eyes from his book, Albert said, “Of course.”

“I love balls! I don’t know which pleases me more, the music or the dancing. Which do you prefer?”

“I prefer reading,” he said. “Quietly.”

Victoria went perfectly still for a moment. “Hmm,” she said at last. “But since the ball is in my honor, I have to dance. At least a bit, to set the tone. Imagine a birthday ball where no one danced!”

“I could only hope,” answered Albert.

Victoria looked over at Liza; her eyes pleading for help. Liza made drawing motions in the air. Victoria’s face brightened.

“Would you like to see my drawings?” Victoria asked. She picked up her sketchbook from the side table and thrust it in Albert’s face. Albert sighed, but he put down his book and leafed through Victoria’s drawings.

“I’m told I am quite accomplished,” said Victoria, casually sharpening her pencil with a knife.

“Very nice,” murmured Albert. “I recognize everyone. Your mother. The Baroness. Your little dog.”

“Dash,” Victoria supplied.

“Yes, Dash. A cunning likeness. But who is this?” Liza craned her neck to see. To while away the time one day, Victoria had sketched Liza’s portrait. Her heart beat faster.

“Surely you know, Albert,” Victoria said, sneaking a smile toward Liza.

“I cannot hazard a guess,” he said.

“Albert, you are so unobservant.” She slapped the flat side of the knife against his arm.

He drew back. “Victoria, you could have cut me.”

The Princess’s face assumed that stubborn look Liza knew so well. “Guess,” she insisted.

Please don’t, Princess.

“I don’t like playing games, Victoria. We’re not children.”

There was a pause.

“It’s not childish,” Victoria said. “Look around you.”

Annoyance flitted across Albert’s round face. “I give up. Who is it?”

“It’s Liza!” Victoria cried.

“Who?” Albert said blankly.

Victoria swung her arm wide in Liza’s direction and Albert ducked away from the knife.

“Silly Albert. Liza is my maid.” She gestured for Liza to step forward. Seething, Liza bobbed a curtsy.

“Your maid?” Albert raised his eyebrows as though caterpillars were crawling up his pasty forehead. “Why on earth would I know that?”

“She’s with me all the time,” Victoria stressed every syllable.

“You have so much to learn: in our position, we don’t pay attention to servants.”

Liza shifted from one foot to another. She wished Victoria would talk about something else; it made her nervous when the royals noticed her.

Albert had opened his book again, but Victoria had the bit between her teeth. “Liza is invaluable to me. Sie spricht Deutsch.” She speaks German.

Without looking up, he murmured, “Useful.”

“She is my eyes and ears in the household.”

Liza gasped for air, as though someone had punched her in the windpipe.

Victoria had finally captured Albert’s attention. “A spy?”

“Not ‘spy.’ Such a horrid word.” She shot a glance at Liza.

“That’s despicable, Victoria,” Albert said severely.

Victoria’s mouth fell open and her eyes bulged. Liza hoped Victoria would never realize how Albert saw her at that moment.

“Does your mother know?” For the first time, Albert really looked at Liza. His face softened a bit in appreciation. Liza forced her features into a blank expression, trying to look modest and harmless. She knew Albert would betray a maid without hesitating.

Please, Victoria, tell him anything but the truth.

“Of course not. My mother is the one upon whom I am eavesdropping.”

Albert began pacing around the room. “Victoria, I don’t want to lecture you—”

“Then don’t,” Victoria said, in what Liza thought of as her Queenly voice.

But Albert didn’t heed the warning. “For God’s sake, Victoria, you are going to be the Queen,” he scolded. “It’s up to you to set an example to the nation.”

“I don’t need your advice,” Victoria said. “After all, it is my nation.”

A shutter crashed down over Albert’s face. “Rather than presume again, I shall take my leave.”

“Albert!” Victoria cried out in dismay, but he was gone. She turned to Liza in tears. “Look what you did, Liza. You drove him away.”

“Me! Why did you tell him I speak German?” Liza shot back.

Victoria glared at her.

“Princess,” Liza said in a more measured tone, “I can’t help you if everyone knows our secret.”

“I wanted him to recognize your likeness,” Victoria said doggedly. Then her tone changed and became more guarded. “When he did finally look, he admired you.”

Danger comes from unexpected quarters.

“I’m sure he did not. He had eyes only for you.”

“Albert thinks pretty girls are frivolous,” said Victoria spitefully.

Liza said nothing. After a few moments, Victoria asked, “Do you think he is right? Am I lessening myself by having you eavesdrop on private conversations?” She paused to consider. “My goodness, it does sound awful.” Her forehead crinkled as she thought.

Liza waited on tenterhooks, while the Princess resolved her moral quandary. Under the influence of the prudish Albert, fickle Victoria might do anything.

“Do you want me to stop?” Liza asked, barely keeping desperation from her voice. “I can just be your maid.”

“No!” Victoria cried. “I need your help to keep Sir John from ruining my life.”

Relieved, Liza sank into a velvet armchair. She was still useful to Victoria. But if Albert said a word, Liza was as good as fired.

“Perhaps if I explain how Mama and Sir John treat me, Albert will understand.”

“It might do more harm than good.” Liza’s fingers twisted tightly around each other.

“Albert may be my future husband, you know. I should take his advice,” said Victoria. “On the other hand, we’re not married yet.” She tapped her fingers against her sketchbook. “What might he think about our newspaper article?”

Before Liza could answer, Baroness Lehzen appeared in the doorway to collect the Princess for tea. Without a backward glance, Victoria left Liza alone, suspended between security and disaster.

A voice from inside the wood box said, “So much for your friend, the Princess.”

“That’s enough from you, Inside Boy,” said Liza gloomily.

21 May 1836 Excerpt from the Journal of Her Royal Highness Victoria

I sat with my dear Cousin on the sofa and we looked at drawings. Albert draws particularly well and is exceedingly fond of music. The more I see him, the more I am delighted with him and the more I love him. He is so natural, so kind, so very good and so well instructed and informed; he is so well bred, so truly merry and quite like a child and yet very grown up in his manners and conversation. It is delightful to be with him…he is quite an example for any young person.

21 May 1836 Excerpt from the Journal of Miss Elizabeth Hastings

There have been excursions with the Princes most every day. Queen Adelaide invited them to Windsor, but the Princess’s mother (with Sir John’s connivance, no doubt) refused quite rudely. And then, to cap injury with insult, the Duchess took her guests to the zoo instead! When the Duchess finally brought her nephews to see the King, he retaliated by falling asleep at dinner! (I’m sure the meal didn’t agree with Albert’s digestion.)