She had the instincts of a man of business; and she never could have borne to be in a position that was financially unsound.
With youth and happiness gilding every hour, the days passed merrily enough.

And each day hinged upon Lord Melbourne.

Her diary shows us, with undiminished clarity, the life of the young sovereign during the early months of her reign--a life satisfactorily regular, full of delightful business, a life of simple pleasures, mostly physical--riding, eating, dancing--a quick, easy, highly unsophisticated life, sufficient unto itself.

The light of the morning is upon it; and, in the rosy radiance, the figure of "Lord M." emerges, glorified and supreme.

If she is the heroine of the story, he is the hero; but indeed they are more than hero and heroine, for there are no other characters at all.