The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 1713 - 66: Best Partners_2

In Kensington, Conroy was the only one besides the Duchess of Kent who dared to order Victoria around.

Although Arthur never witnessed it personally, he had heard from the whispers of the servants that Conroy had more than once lost his temper with Victoria.

Of course, Arthur didn’t think Conroy was entirely wrong, as Victoria’s childish behavior was sometimes excessive, fostered by the flattering palace servants and the important figures who regularly visited Kensington. When Victoria was a child, bishops would crawl on the carpet to play with her, and now, occasionally, a group of nobility would attend her lessons as observers.

Last week, during a visit to Kensington by some young ladies and their parents, Arthur witnessed an amusing little incident.

At that time, seven-year-old Miss Alice wanted to play with Victoria’s dolls, but Victoria not only refused to let her touch any of them but also declared, "You can’t touch them; they are mine. Moreover, I can call you Jane, but you cannot call me Victoria."

Furthermore, Victoria’s pranks extended even to Arthur’s old patron, the President of the Royal Society, and her sixth uncle, the Duke of Sussex.

The servants said that in her childhood, someone told Victoria that if she cried, the Duke of Sussex, also living in Kensington Palace, would punish her. Instead of being afraid, she purposely sobbed every time her uncle passed by for months, leaving him baffled as to why his niece was upset with him.

Perhaps it was for this reason, coupled with the long-standing animosity between the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of Cumberland, that the former later became a supporter of the Kensington System. He supported Victoria’s ascension, but also believed she needed strict discipline.

Strict discipline was indeed in line with the royal elite education requirements and was within Arthur’s understanding. What reassured him was that Victoria’s most unmanageable period had passed; now, as a fifteen-year-old girl, she was much more sensible than when she was younger. Perhaps because Arthur’s relationship with Victoria wasn’t that close, at least Arthur had never seen Victoria lose her temper in his presence; even when she occasionally threw a tantrum, it wasn’t usually directed at him.

However, what Arthur couldn’t understand was that besides losing his temper over discipline issues, Conroy often said bizarre things to Victoria, such as "You look just like the ugly Duke of Gloucester" and "You are nothing special; you are only special because of your mother and me." This was beyond the scope of discipline.

Even more unbelievable was that, despite these remarks, Victoria never dared to retort; she feared Conroy more than her mother.

Every time during lessons when Conroy entered the room, Arthur would notice the girl trembling and losing focus.

However, getting rid of Conroy, who had the support of the Duchess of Kent, was impossible in Kensington at that moment.

Not to mention, behind Conroy and his Kensington System stood Miss Flora Hastings, the Duchess’s lady in waiting; Victoria’s aunt, Princess Sophia; her half-brother, Prince Karl Leiningen; and her sixth uncle, the Duke of Sussex.

Moreover, Conroy’s powerful friends, who were pleased with the Kensington System, might not have been foolish, but he lacked any financial management skills. Funds continually approved by Parliament flowed into Kensington Palace and promptly vanished under Conroy’s "strict supervision."

Admittedly, Conroy’s methods of misappropriating funds weren’t sophisticated, certainly no match for the diplomats’ ways of diverting Young Italy’s aid funds.

At the same time, one had to concede that Conroy’s activities carried no risk.

This was because the two royal members who entrusted their financial expenditures to him, whether the Duchess of Kent or Victoria’s aunt, Princess Sophia, wholeheartedly trusted this Irishman.

But as for the Foreign Office, Viscount Palmerston wouldn’t hesitate to hang Arthur Hastings.

However, those worries would soon disappear because someone was about to take over the seat at the Foreign Office.

Arthur had not yet stepped out of Kensington Palace’s iron gate when he saw from afar a four-wheeled open-top carriage parked under the shade of the trees by the roadside. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The gentleman chatting with the coachman wore a stylish and appropriate high top hat, pulled low to cover half his face, seemingly to avoid recognition. Yet just from his lazy reclining posture in the seat, Arthur knew who it was.

"Well, look who’s here?" Disraeli raised the cane in his hand, a smile spilling from beneath the brim of his hat: "It’s our famous Electromagnetic expert of London, the tutor to Crown Princess Victoria, the man who makes Palmerston and the Whig Party restless, Sir Arthur Hastings!"

Arthur stepped forward and casually opened the carriage door: "Benjamin, I think you’d better save your energy to avoid stirring up any more trouble. Last time, you weren’t satisfied getting beaten by Scotland Yard when you staged a cockfight in the streets, and it hasn’t been long, yet here you are again, putting on a show."