Leopold was not at Waterloo--fought so near the capital of his future kingdom. He was posted in Alsace in command of an army of observation, which, of course, was never needed for action. Leopold went alone to Paris, with the leave of the Czar, still animated by the purpose of advancing his brother's pretensions; Prussia having failed to carry out the rectifications of frontier enacted at Vienna the year before. He succeeded in this object, and hopes of the highest nature were engendered about an affair still nearer to his heart. Wellington and Castlereagh treated him with marked and significant deference. And through the kind intervention of the good-hearted and simple-minded Duke of Kent, he received from his ladye-love some pleasant tokens of continued affection and renewed pledges of staunch fidelity. He was strongly recommended to repair to England and renew and prosecute his wooing in person; but he very astutely declined, thinking it unwise to "brave" the Prince Regent. He went, instead, to Vienna, to act as groomsman at the wedding of his brother Ferdinand with the great Hungarian heiress whose love he had won; and from thence to Berlin, persistently to enforce his brother's twice recognised and sanctioned rights. At Berlin he received a welcome invitation to England from the Regent, and a most satisfactory letter of "explanation" from Lord Castlereagh. He arrived in London in February, 1816. Castlereagh at once took him to Brighton, where the Regent was. He received his daughter's wooer most graciously. The old queen and her three daughters posted after Leopold from London, and in a family council the marriage was definitely agreed on. The young couple were married in May, amid the joyful acclamations of the whole nation. CHAPTER III. PARENTAGE AND BIRTH OF QUEEN VICTORIA. How the Princess Victoria came to be Heiress Presumptive to the Throne--Death of the Princess Charlotte--Marriages of the Royal Dukes--Of the Duke of Kent--Birth of the Princess Alexandrina Victoria--Prediction of George IV.--Death of the Duke of Kent--His Character--His Liberal Opinions--Public Condolence with the Widow and Orphan--Early Life of the Duchess of Kent. [Sidenote: MARRIAGE OF THE DUKE OF KENT.]