“I was so happy … before.’
‘I find that happiness can always be recollected in tranquillity, Ma’am,’ said Melbourne.
Victoria put her hands down and looked up at him, her pale blue eyes searching his face. ‘You were happy too?’
When Melbourne spoke, it was in the voice not of the urbane Prime Minister, but of a man of advancing years who is facing the loss of the only thing that is still capable of bringing him joy. ‘You know I was, Ma’am.”