possible the great sacrifice he has made! I told him it _was_ a great
sacrifice on his part, but he would not allow it.' After they had spent a
month together, the prince returned to Germany. The following extract
occurs in a letter from Prince Albert to the Duchess of Kent: 'What you
say about my poor little bride, sitting all alone in her room, silent and
sad, has touched me to the heart. Oh that I might fly to her side to cheer
her!'

On the 23d November, she made the important declaration regarding her
approaching marriage to the privy-councillors, eighty-three of whom
assembled in Buckingham Palace to hear it. She wore upon her slender wrist
a bracelet with the prince's portrait, 'which seemed,' she says, 'to give
her courage.' The Queen afterwards described the scene: 'Precisely at two
I went in. Lord Melbourne I saw kindly looking at me, with tears in his
eyes, but he was not near me. I then read my short declaration. I felt
that my hands shook, but I did not make one mistake. I felt most happy and
thankful when it was over. Lord Lansdowne then rose, and in the name of
the Privy-Council asked that this most gracious, most welcome
communication might be printed. I then left the room, the whole thing not
taking above three minutes.' The Queen had to make the same statement
before parliament, when Sir Robert Peel replied. 'Her Majesty,' he said,
'has the singular good fortune to be able to gratify her private feelings
while she performs her public duty, and to obtain the best guarantee for
happiness by contracting an alliance founded on affection.' Hereupon arose
a discussion both in and out of parliament as to the amount of the grant
to Prince Albert, which was settled at L30,000 a year. But Prince Albert
assured the Queen that this squabbling did not trouble him: 'All I have to
say is, while I possess your love, they cannot make me unhappy.' Another
source of trouble arose from the fact that several members of the royal
family thought it an indignity that they should give precedence to a