We are told that women had so little attraction for him that there never was even the suspicion of a flirtation in his life. For his family, on the other hand, for his father, his brother and his sisters and their children he entertained the most devoted love, and his friends, especially Sir Edward Malet and Mr. Sheffield, were held by him in an affection which they on their side returned with interest. They became inseparable. “It was Lord Lyons’s fate,” writes Lord Newton, “to represent this country at most critical periods during wars in the course of which England, while desiring to observe the strictest neutrality, aroused the bitterest hostility on the part of the belligerents.”[30] These words contain no exaggeration. His prudence, patience, and self-restraint steered the ship through many hidden dangers. There is an old saw which runs: “Blessed is the minister who does not make history.” It is given to few men to make history; it is given to still fewer to prevent others from making it. These are the greatest of all, and it is among them that Lord Lyons takes an honoured place. CHAPTER VIII THE WEDDING OF THE PRINCE OF WALES On the 10th of March, 1863, I had the honour to be present at the wedding of the Prince of Wales in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor. A number of extra gentlemen-ushers were appointed for the occasion, and by the kindness of Sir Spencer Ponsonby Fane, always a good friend to me, I was one of them. It was a magnificent sight, something to remember for a life-time. The streets of Windsor and all the approaches to St. George’s inside the glorious old Castle were thronged with people radiating the happiness of the day—the Eton boys of course in full strength, ready to cheer till their loyal throats should burst. All that was greatest and noblest in the land was present in the Chapel; there cannot be many people still alive who were there, for of course the guests were all of them men who had already made their mark in the world; and even of those who were on duty, I was probably the youngest. Happy the bride upon whom the sun shines! It was a bitterly cold day, but bright, and a life-giving sun, blazing through the stained-glass windows, shone upon a gorgeous display of glittering uniforms; the banners hanging from the Garter Knights’ stalls, the tabards of the heralds, the gold coats of the state trumpeters combining with the brilliant gowns and flashing diamonds of the ladies, made such a riotous feast of colour as the world could hardly match.