"Your Majesty is wearing lace today," noted Skerrett. "How very light and airy for a day as warm as today."
She pushed a few decorative pins into Victoria's hair, and Victoria felt her stomach quiver. She shut her eyes and thought of Princess Charlotte, who had died in childbirth and had been deeply mourned throughout the country. Victoria knew far too well what had happened to Charlotte. After fifty hours of labour, Charlotte had finally birthed a large stillborn boy. Hours later, Charlotte had complained of severe abdominal pain and had bled to death. Victoria tried not to imagine herself bleeding to death on a bed.
Skerrett coughed.
Victoria turned around and scowled. "Are you ill?"
Skerrett coughed again, three or four times, and then shook her head and insisted to Victoria,
"I have a bit of a dry throat, Ma'am. It's nothing."
"That's what Albert said," Victoria clipped sharply.
"Why don't you go get yourself some water," suggested Mrs Jenkins, who was readying Victoria's gloves, "and I'll finish up with Her Majesty?"
Skerrett curtsied and backed out of the dressing room, clearing her throat. Mrs Jenkins said softly to Victoria,
"I'm sure it's just a cold, Ma'am."
"Just a cold," said Victoria shrilly. "That's precisely what Albert said, except that he had consumption and died."
"Perhaps we ought not jump to conclusions, Ma'am," Mrs Jenkins soothed. She gave Victoria a meaningful look and said, "I'll have her moved, if you like. Owing to your condition."
"You know," Victoria whispered, and Mrs Jenkins tipped her head, smiling a little.
"Ma'am, we handle your linens. We've noticed the lack of blood."
"Right." Victoria felt her cheeks go hot. She let out a shaking breath and said, "I'm announcing it to the Privy Council today."
"Oh." Mrs Jenkins raised her eyebrows. "Good luck, Ma'am."
"Thank you," Victoria said. She stared at her own reflection in the mirror and said, "I think I may need it."
"Have you any idea why we've been summoned?" asked the Duke of Wellington. "Our Queen has an announcement, it seems. Do you suppose she has found a new husband so soon?"
"Oh, no." Melbourne shook his head vigorously. "No. She is still in deep mourning for Albert."
"Quite right," Wellington nodded. He opened his mouth as though he meant to say something else, but then a page called out loudly,
"Her Majesty the Queen."
Melbourne's heart hammered in his chest then as Victoria came walking into the room. She had a blue sash on, and a crown was atop her head. She was dressed as the monarch today. She moved up to the throne and sat, and everyone in the room bowed quite deferentially. Melbourne gulped. He knew what this was about. His eyes seared as Victoria found his gaze. She held it for just a moment, her face serious, and then she cleared her throat and looked out upon the assembled Privy Council.
"My Lords," she said in a clear, confident voice, "I have asked you here so that I might inform you of a wondrous development, even in the face of terrible grief. I am with child."
There were gasps and small exclamations of surprise, and then Victoria clarified,
"Before my dear, beloved Albert became severely unwell, our marriage was strong. He has left me with a beautiful gift - the gift of his child."
Wild applause broke out in the room, and Melbourne found himself numbly clapping as a tear threatened to boil over his eyelid. He brushed a knuckle there to rid himself of the tear, and then he watched as Victoria came off her throne. She began to mingle with the members of the Privy Council, and Melbourne watched as she was asked how she was feeling.
"My stomach quavers, but I am not altogether unwell," Victoria reassured her cousin George. He gave her a sour little smile and bowed his head. Victoria headed straight for Melbourne then, and he bowed to her. She held out her hand and reached for his, shocking him. The lace of her gloves was a little rough on his fingers, and he shivered.
"My good Lord M," she said stoutly. "I know this news must please you greatly."
Melbourne shut his eyes for a moment, and a sudden vision took him over. He could see Victoria sitting on a blanket in the gardens with a little toddling child. Dark wavy hair and seafoam green eyes, the child behind Melbourne's eyes had. It was his child. Victoria's womb had been impregnated by him, by William Lamb. Not by Albert. He opened his eyes and said somewhat breathlessly,
"My most heartfelt congratulations, Your Majesty. This is beautiful news indeed. We see now how, even when someone leaves us, they grant us wonderful mercies. You are blessed indeed, as is all of your realm."
He was babbling, he thought. He wasn't making sense. But Victoria gave him a little smile and squeezed his hand.
"You must stay for dinner," she said, finally releasing him. Melbourne huffed a sigh and said,
"Ma'am, I had planned on going to Brocket Hall."
"To Brocket Hall," she repeated, and suddenly she looked heartbroken. She shook her head in confusion. Beside Melbourne, the Duke of Wellington eyed the sovereign and the Prime Minister with what seemed like deep suspicion. Melbourne gulped and said,
"My flowers need me at Brocket Hall, Ma'am. It has been so long since I have attended to them properly. They are neglected by me, you see, and -"
"I should love to come to Brocket Hall," Victoria said smoothly. "What a wondrous escape from the madness of the city during this delicate time."
Melbourne's eyebrows flew up. He touched his jaw and tipped his head.
"Of course, Your Majesty is always welcome at Brocket Hall, but -"
"Good. Then we shall both go. I'll bring a dresser and a lady's maid. No more than that. I want a quiet retreat from London whilst my condition is still fragile."
"A quiet retreat from London," Melbourne repeated. "Yes, of course."
"I shall be going away for a little while!" Victoria called out then, "for rest and relaxation away from court during these early days of being with child."
Everyone in the room went quiet. People seemed confused by Victoria's sudden announcement. Finally the Duke of Wellington said in his brusque voice,
"I wish Your Majesty nothing but tranquility and health."
"Thank you, Duke," Victoria said, her breath audibly shaking. "Lord M, I must make preparations to leave. You'll wait for me?"
"Y-Yes, of course." Melbourne bowed his head. "Your Majesty."
"Thank you all," Victoria said, and people gave obeisance once more as she turned and walked quickly from the room.
"The newspapers tomorrow will all lead with this news," said Wellington. Melbourne nodded.
"As well they should. Our Queen is with child. It is an exciting occasion."
"Yes, I'm certain you're thrilled," said Wellington. Melbourne looked at the elder statesman and frowned.
"What do you mean by that, sir?"
"Do you take me for a fool, man? She is going to your country house when she is in a state with no consequences to be had."
Melbourne's face and neck felt quite hot all of a sudden. He licked his lips and shook his head. "She quite invited herself, as I'm sure you heard. And, may I ask, are you accusing me of plotting criminal conversation with Her Majesty?"
"Criminal conversation has long been a part of your story, Melbourne," Wellington pointed out. Melbourne gulped and shook his head again.
"She invited herself," he repeated. "I will host her. I'll show her my flowers. My rooks. Nothing more."
"Of course." Wellington nodded and turned to walk off. Melbourne felt anger flush through him. He wanted to follow the other man, to tell him it was absurd and out of order for him to suggest that he and Victoria would ever do anything untoward. But then he remembered the way he'd thrust himself into her against a wall, the way they'd spoken to each other until they were hot-blooded and she'd swayed atop him in a chair. He thought of her taking his hand here, in front of everybody, of her inviting herself to Brocket Hall. He thought of all that, and he thought of the fact that her child was his child - it was their child - and he let Wellington walk away.
Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter today - I promise tomorrow's update will be longer and much more interesting as they go to Brocket Hall.