now stand. The little lady is educated with much care, and watched so
closely that no busy maid has a moment to whisper "You are heir of
England." I suspect if we could dissect the little heart, we should find
that some pigeon or other bird of the air had carried the matter,
however.' This, it seems, was not the case. Charles Knight has told us how
he one morning saw the household breakfasting in the open air, at a table
on the lawn. It is also related that Victoria took her airings in
Kensington Gardens in a little phaeton drawn by a tiny pony, led by a
page. A dog ran between the legs of the pony one day, frightening it, so
that the little carriage was upset, and the princess would have fallen on
her head, but for the presence of mind of an Irishman who rescued her.
Leigh Hunt saw her once 'coming up a cross-path from the Bayswater gate,
with a girl of her own age by her side, whose hand she was holding as if
she loved her;' and he adds that the footman who followed seemed to him
like a gigantic fairy. When the princess was in her fifth year, George
IV., who acted as one of her godfathers, sent a message to parliament
which resulted in a grant for the cost of the education of his niece.

In 1824, when the princess was five years old, Fraeulein Lehzen, a German
lady, became her governess; afterwards she held the post of the Queen's
private secretary, until relieved by the Prince-Consort. She was the
daughter of a Hanoverian pastor, and came to England in 1818 as governess
to the Princess Feodora of Leiningen. In her home letters she records that
'the princess received her in a pretty, childlike way,' and describes her
as 'not tall, but very pretty;' adding that she 'has dark brown hair,
beautiful blue eyes, and a mouth which, though not tiny, is very
good-tempered and pleasant; very fine teeth, a small but graceful figure,
and a very small foot. She was dressed in white muslin with a coral
necklet.' The domestic life was that of any other well-regulated and happy
family. The princess shared her governess's bedroom. They all took their