The public at large, even those who thought her _action_ wrong, accorded to the Queen sympathy rather than blame. It was well known that she had been dexterously surrounded by the wives and sisters and daughters of the great Whigs, and that on these ladies all her ardent and girlish affections were bestowed. This made the people all the more angry that the male heads of the Whig houses now gave her unconstitutional advice. Not only her youth and inexperience, but the very warmth of the affection which she had displayed, and, above all, the fact that she was the chief sufferer on the occasion, all pleaded for her. Indeed, it may be said that the quickly-forgotten "Bedchamber Plot" rather endeared the Sovereign to her subjects than otherwise. Both of her uncles who preceded her on the throne had been exceedingly capricious and disloyal to their ministers. Under these reigns there was a constant sense, in the breasts of ministers and in the breasts of the people, of the precariousness of the existence of even the most popular cabinets. It certainly cannot be said that in the early summer of 1839 Lord Melbourne's cabinet was popular. Nevertheless, though the ministers were blamed, the people were charmed by the Queen's ingenuousness, bravery, and steadiness of attachment. It is but just to state that on every future occasion of the change of an Administration, the Queen has, without the slightest demur, conceded the point, the consideration of which we now dismiss. And with the transparent candour of her nature, Her Majesty has caused it to be made known that the Prince Consort had much to do with producing this result. CHAPTER XII. COURTSHIP AND BETROTHAL. Desire of the Coburg Relatives for a Marriage between Victoria and Albert--Favourable Impressions mutually made by Victoria and Albert--Prince Albert's Letter on the Queen's Accession--Opposition of King William IV. to the Marriage--Correspondence between the Cousins--King Leopold urges on the Marriage--The Queen's Reluctance to become Betrothed--Her subsequent Regret at this--The Prince craves a definite Determination--His Second Visit to England--Betrothed at last--Returns to Germany to say Farewell. We have already seen that the marriage of Prince Albert with his cousin was strongly desired by their common relatives from a very early period of their lives. It was the "ardent wish" of their grandmother, and she freely communicated that wish to her son and daughter, Prince Leopold and the Duchess of Kent. There are strong indications that the astute King Leopold never lost sight of this end from the date of his mother's death in 1831. Soon after the visit of the brothers to their "aunt Kent" in 1836, the rumour began to prevail in England that Prince Albert was the _fiance_ of the future Queen. The idea, however, was premature. So we know on the Queen's authority, who has caused it to be stated that "nothing was then settled."