Lovers in London by Barbara Cartland Page B

protect and serve her in a way that many people found touching.
    Among several other guests that Lanthia met was Lord Hardwicke.
    The Marquis knew and decided to tell Lanthia later that, because the Prince was so fussy about his appearance, he had introduced a number of fashion innovations of his own.
    One such innovation was a short navy-blue jacket, which was adopted for dinner by his whole entourage as well as all ship’s Officers. When the Prince appeared wearing gloves with black stitching, all the young gentlemen in White’s were quick to imitate him.
    His friends all wanted to please him and so Lord Hardwicke had inspired his hat-maker to produce what the Marlborough House set acclaimed as a ‘perfect topper.’
    As the guests eventually sat down to luncheon, Lanthia felt everything was so informal that it was difficult to believe she was actually in the Royal Household.
    The Marquis, although Lanthia had no idea he was doing so, was watching her carefully.
    It was not only to see that she did nothing wrong, but he was really wondering what would be her reaction at finding herself sitting down to a meal with the Prince and Princess of Wales.
    Princess Alexandra had indeed managed to capture the hearts of the British people when, despite her beauty, all the odds might have been against it.
    Queen Victoria had been only too well aware from the example of the behaviour of her uncle, King William IV, that her family were extremely hot-blooded.
    She had been faced with the problem of finding a suitable wife for her eldest son, who would surely inherit this characteristic.
    The Court was astounded when she selected a little known Danish Princess, a choice that from a political point of view was extremely embarrassing.
    But Alexandra was, however, undoubtedly the most beautiful Princess in the whole of Europe and at eighteen she became the perfect wife for a somewhat over-vigorous young man of twenty.
    That the Prince at once fell madly in love with her was a justification of his mother’s choice.
    Yet there was no doubt that the Queen thoroughly disapproved of many of their friends, their parties and the manner in which they lived.
    On one occasion she commented with disapproval that Alexandra had all her five children in the room when she was writing letters and no nurse in attendance. In fact she and the Prince allowed their children to climb over and around them like puppies.
    The Princess went even further. When she could, she would go to the nursery, put on a flannel apron and bathe the children herself. Then she would rock them to sleep in their little beds.
    It was all a question of being young, energetic and living life to the full.
    Yet what no one could understand, as the Marquis knew only too well, was that when the public realised the Prince was being unfaithful, Alexandra never complained nor appeared to be in any way upset by him.
    Whether she was or was not in private, no one ever knew.
    It was Oliver Montagu who kept her from being talked about and he made sure that she could not be harmed by any gossip leaking from their home.
    Looking closely at the Princess across the table, the Marquis could see that naturally she had changed during the seventeen years of her marriage.
    Yet Alexandra was surely still incredibly beautiful, but she was obviously no longer as mobile as the young bride of 1863.
    Rheumatic fever had left her with a stiff knee and this prevented her from skating on the Sandringham ponds or dancing in the ballroom.
    But she was still graceful and still had a radiant smile that seemed to welcome everyone.
    And she was apparently still extremely happy with her husband.
    The Prince always treated her with the greatest kindness and respect, and even his closest friends had never heard him complain at her frequent unpunctuality.
    The Marquis knew, because he was so often with the Prince, that he was always watchful to see that every respect was shown to his wife.
    He had been a