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54 was a few months younger than Victoria, it was the earnest wish of their fond mothers that these two should be united in marriage. When they met, after brief acquaintance of each other's tastes and disposition, they showed mutual pleasure, and when their kind uncle, Leopold, now King of Belgium, suggested to the princess the idea of their union, she gladly accepted the proposal. But reflection on her public duty afterward led her to postpone a decisive arrangement till she should be of age. The engagement, if such it was, seemed to be broken off; the coronation did not hasten its renewal. In later life she wrote, "A worse school for a young girl—one more detrimental to all natural feelings and affections—cannot well be imagined than the position of a Queen at eighteen, without experience and without a husband to guide and support her. This the Queen can state from painful experience, and she thanks God that none of her own dear daughters are exposed to such danger."

In October, 1839, Prince Albert and his brother came to see their royal cousin. A week later, in spite of high resolves and royal duty and maidenly modesty, Love found his way into the palace and broke down the barriers which were keeping apart hearts destined to be one. The Queen has since told the story herself with touching simplicity. They were married on the 10th of February, 1840, a day which began with clouds and rain, but, after the ceremony, changed to what the loyal English people call the "Queen's weather."

All the world knows their married life to have been a happy one. The Queen has given us a full sketch of a day of that time: "They breakfasted at nine, and took a walk every morning soon afterward; then came the usual amount of business (far less heavy, however, than now), besides which they drew and etched a great deal together, which was a source of great amusement, having the plates bit in the house. Luncheon followed at the usual hour of two o'clock.