"How can stamped and unstamped papers be that interesting?" Lord Melbourne huffed to his butler as the door of Dover House was shut behind him. He shut his eyes and touched his forehead, tired after a long day in the House of Lords. The day had been spent on drudgery that had seemed to rile up even the most docile Parliamentarians into a frenzy. This bit of politics, the part where screaming matches broke out over minutiae, was the part that Melbourne wanted to leave long behind. He wanted to go to Brocket Hall and write about St Chrysostom. He wanted to relax.

"Forgive me, Prime Minister," said the butler softly, "but you have company waiting."

The butler gave Melbourne a grave look, and Melbourne scowled. Which Member of Parliament had beat him here? It was more than likely someone who wanted to berate him over stamps.

"It is Her Majesty the Queen," said the butler, and Melbourne's frown deepened. He was breathless for a moment, remembering the other time she'd come to Dover House unexpected. He licked his lips and demanded,

"Where is she?"

"She is in the left parlour, sir. She's been given tea. She has been here for over an hour."

"Mustn't keep her waiting any longer, then." Melbourne pinched his lips. He handed his butler his hat and coat, and he wrung his hands together as he stalked through the round entrance hall. He went down the corridor and through his large drawing room. The parlour on the left was elegantly appointed, but a part of Melbourne wished he'd been able to prepare for Victoria coming here.

He walked through the open double doors, and Victoria stood from the chair where she was holding a cup of tea. Melbourne gulped and walked over to her, genuflecting onto one knee and kissing the hand she held out for him. He rose, and then he sighed and looked around in confusion. She was alone. Where was her chaperone?

"I came in cognito," Victoria said, and Melbourne scoffed.

"Yes. That's always very convincing, Your Majesty. My butler has no idea that you're here."

She smirked at his sarcasm and gestured toward the chair opposite the one she'd been sitting in. She sank down, and Melbourne immediately planted himself in the other chair. He glanced at the teapot on the tray that had been put on the low table between them.

"Please do have some tea," Victoria invited him, and he chewed his lip a little as he poured himself a cup. He wanted something stronger, all of a sudden. He dropped some sugar into the tea and brought it to his lips. He set it back down at once and dared to ask,

"Does His Royal Highness know you've come… incognito… to Dover House, Ma'am?"

"No. But he doesn't need to know everything I do," Victoria sniffed. She set down her own teacup and folded her hands on her lap. "What was the issue at hand today in the House of Lords?"

"Stamps, Ma'am," Melbourne smiled. "It was vicious."

"Viciousness over stamps? No wonder you so despise politicking," Victoria grinned. She seemed nervous, Melbourne noticed then. Her breath was coming quick and shallow, and her hands were trembling on her lap. Melbourne furrowed his brows and asked as gently as he could,

"Ma'am, are you… has something happened?"

Her eyes watered visibly then, and she whispered, "It's Albert. Or, rather, it's me. Well, it's us, you understand."

"I'm afraid I do not," Melbourne said with great caution, "but I am willing to listen to anything you might have to say about, well, anything."

"You see? There it is." Victoria began to cry then, which made Melbourne's chest pull and made his stomach queasy. Tears boiled over Victoria's eyes as she said softly, "You are so good and kind to me. Albert doesn't mean to be cruel, I don't think, but…"

She trailed off, and then she looked away and swiped a knuckle under her eye.

"He was asleep beside me, and he was snoring so loudly that I couldn't sleep, so I woke him up and told him that I -"

"Your Majesty." Melbourne shut his eyes, but Victoria continued,

"I told him that I couldn't sleep for his snoring, and he said it wasn't his fault, and I said that perhaps if he hadn't such a very large nose…"

Melbourne stifled a laugh. He choked out a little noise as he struggled to stay still and quiet. He planted a steady look on his face and mumbled,

"I'm sure he was quite offended."

"Yes, quite." Victoria sniffled. "He told me then that I had a hurtful streak in me. Only, I was just frustrated and tired, and his snoring had driven me mad. So he left."

"I do not think I ought to be privy to this information, Ma'am," Melbourne told her. She looked back at him, her eyes rimmed red, and she said,

"I can't say any of this to my ladies, nor to my mother. My spats with Albert are mine to bear. You used to let me tell you everything."

"Well, things are different now, Ma'am," Melbourne said, tipping his head. His own eyes burned then as he realised just how different things really were. She'd had a husband snoring in her bed. She'd worn Honiton lace…

His breath accelerated shakily in his chest as he heard himself say,

"You mustn't gossip about him with me, Ma'am; it isn't appropriate."

"You are not interested in my troubles?" Victoria asked, her voice cracking. Melbourne scoffed and shook his head.

"On the contrary; your troubles keep me awake at night. But I can be an interloper into disagreements you and His Royal Highness have."

"Am I not permitted to simply come to you and pour out my frustrations?" Victoria's eyes were wide and searching, and Melbourne gulped.

"Of course you may always come to me," he whispered, "Your Majesty."

"He told me that I disgusted him," Victoria said, and Melbourne scowled.

"I can't imagine he would possibly say such a thing. Not that I doubt you, Ma'am, but for him to… I'm certain there's context."

"I chew my thumbnail," Victoria said, her cheeks pinking. It's a habit I've had all my life. My mother used to scold me for it. My Uncle Leopold scolded me for it. And now my husband tells me that it is a repulsive thing to do, and that he does not want to touch my hand after I've been chewing my thumbnail. He says it is unhygienic. Of course, it is just a nervous habit."

"Of course." Melbourne bowed his head and laced his fingers through each other. "I think, if I may speak plainly, Ma'am, that there are growing pains at the beginning of a marriage. One never knows that the other snores until one attempts to sleep beside the snorer. One doesn't notice nervous habits until they make one peevish."

"You think Albert and I will learn to ignore these things about one another?" Victoria sounded incredulous. She sighed and shook her head. "How am I meant to sleep with that snoring?"

Melbourne smiled a little and said, "You've your own quarters, Ma'am. Perhaps maintain them as your own."

"Yes, of course. But he does treat me a bit like I'm a child," Victoria said. "It isn't as though he tells me flatly that I am fat; instead he intimates that perhaps I ought to eat less food. It isn't that he says I am bad with art; instead he points out all the flaws in my drawings. He doesn't tell me that I am a disgusting person. He says that my habits make him feel ill. And he criticised me for wearing my favourite pearls the other day; he said they did not well match my gown."

Melbourne raised his eyebrows. "I was unaware that the Prince was so keen on fashion."

Victoria giggled a little then. She shut her eyes and shook her head. Then she stared straight at Melbourne and said in a very fine imitation of Albert's German accent,

"Zat colour of pink wiss pearls… it is an immature look for you, I think."

"An immature look," Melbourne repeated, laughing a bit. "Of course, we want to ensure that our very young queen looks sufficiently mature."

Victoria shrugged. "I thought the pink gown looked pretty with pearls."

"I'm certain you looked lovely, Ma'am. Radiant. Like always."

He caught himself then and looked away. His breath hitched in his chest and he realised he'd just complimented Victoria far too intimately. He opened his mouth to apologise, thought he must look like a fish, shut his mouth, and turned his eyes to her.

"You see?" she whispered, "You care for me, Lord M. You are kind to me."

"I…" Melbourne felt like a complete fool all of a sudden. He licked his lips and whispered, "I only wish for your happiness, Ma'am. Nothing more and nothing less. I used to be aspirational. I used to want things for myself. Now I find that your contentment matters a great deal to me. And so, I am displeased to hear that you and His Royal Highness have been experiencing troubles. But I do think you will find your way out of them."

"He'll make me happy, you think?" Victoria asked. Melbourne hesitated just a moment too long. He gulped hard and finally nodded. In a solemn voice, he assured Victoria,

"You will make one another happy."

He and Victoria met one another's eyes directly then, and for a very long moment, he just gazed into her eyes and breathed. Her beautiful blue eyes shone back at him, and her lips parted a little bit. Her bottom lip trembled, and she said,

"I ought to have stayed like Elizabeth. Alone."

"She wasn't alone, remember?" Melbourne swallowed past the knot in his throat and whispered, "She had companions."

"A married queen is not entitled to a companion," Victoria said. She stared out the window at the darkness and told Melbourne, "I need to leave now. I should not have come, perhaps."

"You are always welcome, Your Majesty." Melbourne waited for her to stand, and when she did, he told her, "You may always come to me to pour out your frustrations."

She smiled sadly at him and reached for his fingers. He jolted just a little when her fingers curled around his, and he found himself pulling his hand away.

"Let's get you into your carriage, Ma'am. It is getting late."

"Victoria."

She startled as the door to her dressing room opened. Skerrett and Mrs Jenkins gasped and descended into curtsies at once. Albert stood there, his face stony, and he asked,

"Are you very nearly dressed? I must speak with you."

"I only need my… my pearls." Victoria winced, remembering the way he'd told her that she'd looked too young with her pale pink gown and her single strand of pearls. She stood stock still as Skerrett clasped the triple strand of teardrop pearls around her neck, and she brushed her hands over her midnight blue gown.

"Can this wait until after dinner, Albert?" she asked. "I hate to make everyone wait for us."

"It will only take a moment, if you please," Albert said. Victoria let out a shaking breath as Skerrett stuck two more pins into Victoria's hair. Albert coughed a few times, and Victoria noted quietly,

"You've had a cough for days. You are ill."

"It is, I believe, merely a cold," said Albert. "Please, may we speak?"

Victoria huffed a breath and walked away from Skerrett and Mrs Jenkins. She walked from her dressing room into her bedroom, and Albert followed her. She raised her eyebrows at him and asked,

"Is something wrong? Other than that hideous cough of yours?"

"As I said, I believe it to be a cold," Albert said. "I will not attend dinner; I do not wish to make anyone else ill. But that is not what I have come to speak with you about."

"What's wrong, Albert?" Victoria nervously toyed with the ring on her finger.

"Did you go to Dover House by yourself?" Albert put his hands on his hips.

"How would you… who told you such a thing?" Victoria demanded. Albert narrowed his eyes.

"That is a yes, I believe. Victoria. I trust you. I trust Lord Melbourne. But if word spreads that the married queen paid a solitary visit to her Prime Minister, it would be… you do not want a scandal any more than I do, hmm?"

"Of course I don't want a scandal," Victoria said. "I went to speak with an old friend. What is the harm in that?"

"I think it best if your conversations with Lord Melbourne… happen… here at the…" Albert stopped then and coughed four or five times. He pulled out a handkerchief and coughed a few more times. He cleared his throat and tucked the handkerchief away. "I think it best if your conversations with Lord Melbourne happen here at the palace, Victoria."

"You're avoiding dinner, then?" she said. "I suppose I shall have to rely on my own self-control when it comes to the quantity of bites taken."

"Victoria…" Albert coughed roughly a few times. He shook his head in frustration. "I do not wish to argue with you about food ever again."

"Right. We shall limit our arguments the habits that drive one another mad, and to criticising each other's fashion and endeavours and -"

"You are being absurd," Albert said softly. Victoria glared.

"I am your wife, but I am also your queen. Kindly do not interrupt me."

"I apologise." Albert pulled out his handkerchief and coughed into it a few more times. "With your leave, I shall take to bed. This cold is persistent; I believe some rest would do me good."

"You need a doctor," Victoria said stiffly, but Albert shook his head and insisted,

"It is nothing, really. Do not trouble yourself over me. Please enjoy your dinner."

"What little of it that I eat," Victoria nodded. Albert tossed his hands up and said,

"I never meant to hurt you with that."

"All right." Victoria glanced towards the door. "I ought to go; people are waiting."

"You are allowed to make them wait," Albert reminded her. He coughed again, into a fist this time, and Victoria scowled.

"I think your doctor should see you. In fact, I shan't be satisfied if your doctor does not see you. Arrange for it, if you please."

"Yes, of course. Give Lord Melbourne my regards at dinner," Albert requested. Victoria stiffened.

"How did you know he would be there?"

"Because you haven't seen him in two days," Albert said primly, "so of course he will be at dinner. Please tell him that I said hello. And remember what we have agreed upon, Victoria - scandal will do no good for anyone."

"Go rest," Victoria ordered him. "I want you well soon so that we can ride out together and sit together in front of a fire, and…"

She trailed off, staring at her husband and realising as she studied his face that she did not love him. She had thought she did. She had thought herself madly in love with him. But right this very moment, after the gleam of new marriage had worn off, Victoria was not in love. She had fallen out of love.

She shut her eyes and saw a face - Lord M's face in Dover House where he'd told her she was always radiant. Victoria huffed a breath and walked up to Albert. She brushed her fingers over his chest and murmured,

"Rest well, Albert. I do hate to see you unwell."

"Goodnight, Victoria." Albert bowed his head and walked past her, coughing a few more times as he left the bedroom.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for the kind feedback on the first chapter of this story! I am thrilled that there are people excited to read this. Please let me know what you think of the story as it continues.