Council.[55] The great assembly of lords and notables, bishops, generals, and Ministers of State, saw the doors thrown open and a very short, very slim girl in deep plain mourning come into the room alone and move forward to her seat with extraordinary dignity and grace; they saw a countenance, not beautiful, but prepossessing--fair hair, blue prominent eyes, a small curved nose, an open mouth revealing the upper teeth, a tiny chin, a clear complexion, and, over all, the strangely mingled signs of innocence, of gravity, of youth, and of composure; they heard a high unwavering voice reading aloud with perfect clarity; and then, the ceremony over, they saw the small figure rise and, with the same consummate grace, the same amazing dignity, pass out from among them, as she had come in, alone.[56] [1] Murray, 62-3; Lee, 11-12. [2] Owen, Journal, No. 1, February, 1853, 28-9. [3] _Ibid._, 31. [4] Croker, I, 155. [5] Stockmar, 113. [6] Stockmar, 114-5. [7] _Letters_, I, 15, 257-8; Grey, App. A. [8] Granville, I, 168-9. [9] _Wilberforce, William_, V, 71-2. [10] _Letters_, I, 17. [11] Creevey, I, 297-8. [12] Jerrold, _Early Court_, 15-17. [13] _Letters_, I, 10. [14] _Ibid._, I, 14; _Girlhood_, I, 280. [15] Crawford, 6. [16] Smith, 21-2. [17] _Cornhill Magazine_, LXXV, 730. [18] Hunt, II, 257-8. [19] _Letters_, I, 10, 18. [20] _Letters_, I, 11-12; Lee, 26. [21] _Letters_, I, 14-17. [22] _Ibid._, I, 16. [23] Martin, I, 13. [24] _Letters_, I, 11. [25] _Girlhood_, I, 42. [26] Crawford, 87. [27] Martineau, II, 118-9. [28] _Girlhood_, I, 66-7. [29] _Ibid._, I, 129. [30] _Girlhood_, I, 124-5. [31] _Girlhood_, I, 78, 82. [32] _Ibid._, I, 150-3. [33] _Girlhood_, I, 157-61. [34] Greville, II, 195-6 [35] Greville, III, 321, 324. [36] _Letters_, I, 47-8. [37] _Girlhood_, I, 168. [38] Greville, III, 377. [39] Greville, III, 374-6. [40] _Ibid._, IV, 21; and August 15, 1839 (unpublished). 'The cause of the Queen's alienation from the Duchess and hatred of Conroy, the Duke [of Wellington] said, was unquestionably owing to her having witnessed some familiarities between them. What she had seen she repeated to Baroness Spaeth, and Spaeth not only did not hold her tongue, but (he thinks) remonstrated with the Duchess herself on the subject. The consequence was that they got rid of Spaeth, and they would have got rid of Lehzen, too, if they had been able, but Lehzen, who knew very well what was going on, was prudent enough not to commit herself, and she was, besides, powerfully protected by George IV and William IV, so that they did not dare to attempt to expel her.' [41] Greville, IV, 21; Crawford, 128-9. [42] _Girlhood_, I, 192-3. [43] _Ibid._, I, 191. [44] _Ibid._, I, 194. [45] Greville, III, 407-8. [46] Creevey, II, 262. [47] _Letters_, I, 53. [48] _Letters_, I, 61. [49] _Girlhood_, I, 175. [50] _Letters_, I, 70-1. [51] Torrens, 419. [52] Huish, 686. [53] Wynn, 281. [54] _Girlhood_, I, 195-6.