"I don't mean you are to take Lehzen in your arms and kiss her, but the Queen." The Duke might perhaps have succeeded, had not all attempts at conciliation been rendered hopeless by a tragical event.

Lady Flora, it was discovered, had been suffering from a terrible internal malady, which now grew rapidly worse.

There could be little doubt that she was dying.

The Queen's unpopularity reached an extraordinary height.

More than once she was publicly insulted.