Though he was in no sense the noble, selfless human being Queen Victoria took him to be, King Leopold was nevertheless a very shrewd judge of human nature, and had evidently seen enough of the Princess Royal to note certain peculiarities in her character which had escaped the loving, partial eyes of her parents. This is clearly shown in a letter written by Queen Victoria in the December of 1856. In this letter there is a passage, prefaced by "Now one word about Vicky," in which the Queen protests that she has never seen her daughter take any predilection to a person which was not _motivé_ by a certain amiability, goodness, or distinction of some kind or other. She goes on to say: "You need be under no apprehension whatever on this subject; and she has moreover great tact and esprit de conduite." This surely makes it clear that King Leopold was aware of the sudden fancies which the Princess Royal, even at that early age, often showed to those who attracted her, and that for no sufficient reason. Probably in this case he was thinking of the Princess Royal's passionate attachment to the Empress Eugénie--an attachment which lasted all through her youth, and which perhaps had more justification for it than some other of her enthusiasms for individuals. In England, at any rate at first, the news of the engagement was received rather coldly, almost as if it was a _mésalliance_, though the knowledge that it was really a love-match did much to reconcile public opinion. The following passage from a letter written by Mr. Cobden, at this time the triumphant protagonist of the Anti-Corn Law League, reflects as well as anything the general feeling that the bridegroom was indeed "a lucky fellow": "It is generally thought that the young Prince Frederick William of Prussia is to be married to our Princess Royal. I was dining _tête-à-tête_ with Mr. Buchanan, the American Minister, a few days ago, who had dined the day before at the Queen's table, and sat next to the Princess Royal. He was in raptures about her, and said she was the most charming girl he had ever met: 'All life and spirit, full of frolic and fun, with an excellent head, and a _heart as big as a mountain_'--those were his words. Another friend of mine, Colonel Fitzmayer, dined with the Queen last week, and, in writing to me a description of the company, he says that when the Princess Royal smiles, 'it makes one feel as if additional light were thrown upon the scene.' So I should judge that this said Prince is a lucky fellow, and I trust he will make a good husband. If not, although a man of peace, I shall consider it a _casus belli_!"