Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901 -- Fiction
Prince Leopold had come to Sidmouth a day or two earlier, and he went
with the Duchess and the Princess to London. The villagers gathered
about the carriage to bid a silent farewell to the sorrowful company.
Many of them were weeping and their tears flowed still faster when the
nurse held the baby up to the carriage window and whispered, "Say
good-by to the people;" for the little one waved her hand and patted
the glass and sprang up and down in her nurse's arms without the least
realization of her loss.
The carriage rolled away, but the people stood watching it until it was
out of sight.
"That's the sweetest child in all England," said one woman, wiping her
eyes with the corner of her apron, "and now the poor little thing will
have no father."
"Did ever you see a man so fond of his child as the Duke?" said another
with a sob.
"King George had nine sons," said a man who stood near, "and the Duke
was every whit the best of them. The King never treated him fairly.
When the others wanted money, they had it; but when the Duke needed it,
his father just said, 'Get along as you can.' There wasn't one of the
sons that the King wasn't kinder to than to the Duke."
"He'll have little more chance to be kind or unkind," declared another.
"Have you not heard the news from London? The King is very ill, and the
Prince Regent will soon be George IV."
"It's bad luck speaking ill of him that's to be king," said one, "but
the man that's gone to London in his coffin was the man that I'd have
liked to see on the throne."
"Will the Duchess go back to her own land, think you?" questioned the
first woman.
"Yes, that she will," replied the second positively "There never was a
woman that loved her own people better than she. Folks say she writes
her mother every day of her life."
"I say she'll not go back," declared one of the men with equal
positiveness. "She'll do her duty, and her duty is to care for the
Princess. God bless her, and make her our queen some day."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account