I wonder if,
weary and nervously exhausted as she must have been, she slept much, when
at last she went to bed, probably no longer in her mother's room. I
wonder if she did not think, with a sort of fearsome thrill that when the
summer sun faded from her sight, it was only to travel all night,
lighting her vast dominions and her uncounted millions of subjects; and
that, like the splendor of that sun, had become her life--hers, the
little maiden's, but just emerging from the shadow of seclusion, and from
her mother's protecting care and wise authority, and stepping out into
the world by herself!
The next day she went in state to St. James Palace, accompanied by great
lords and ladies, and escorted by squadrons of the Life Guards and Blues,
and was formally proclaimed from the window of the Presence Chamber,
looking out on the court-yard. A Court chronicle states that Her Majesty
wore a black silk dress and a little black chip bonnet, and that she
looked paler than usual. Miss Martineau, speaking of the scene, says:
"There stood the young creature, in simplest mourning, her sleek bands of
brown hair as plain as her dress. The tears ran down her cheeks, as Lord
Melbourne, standing by her side, presented her to the people as their
Sovereign.
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