Ah, wasn't she spited as she looked back and saw the joyous family party
in the dim distance, and realized what she had lost in not indulging
herself in a good long British stare, and what a sin she had committed in
not making a loyal British obeisance.




CHAPTER III.

Victoria's early Education--Anecdote--Routine of Life at Kensington
Palace--Character and Circumstances of the Duchess of Kent--Anecdote--
Simple Mode of Life--Visits.


Queen Victoria tells little of her childhood, but speaks of it as rather
"dull." It seems, however, to have never been empty or idle. All her
moments were golden--for study, or for work, or healthful exercise and
play. She was taught, and perhaps was inclined, to waste no time, and to
be careful not to cause others to waste it. A dear English friend
contributes the following anecdote, slight, but very significant,
obtained long ago from a lady whose young daughters, then at school at
Hammersmith, had the same writing-master as the Princess Victoria: "Of
course," says my friend, "every incident connected with the little
Princess was interesting to the school-girls, and all that this master (I
think his name was Steward) had to tell went to prove her a kind-hearted
and considerate child.

"She always mentioned to him in advance the days on which she would not