Page:Life of Her Majesty Queen Victoria (IA lifeofhermajesty01fawc).pdf/118

 Nicholas (afterwards the Emperor Nicholas of the Crimean War), "a singularly handsome, attractive young fellow, … very well mannered, with a decided talent for flirting. … When Countess Lieven played after dinner on the piano he kissed her hand, which struck the English ladies present as peculiar, but decidedly desirable." Those who are apt to take alarm at the advent of "The New Woman" will perhaps learn with surprise that she is not so very new after all. Mrs. Campbell, Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Charlotte "opposes everything she sees and hears, and meets everything that men can say or do with such persistent contradiction that we can tell beforehand what will be her answers to our questions. This lady, however, professed man-hater though she was, thought with the rest of the women that the Grand Duke Nicholas was charming." Mrs. Campbell could not cease praising him. "What an amiable creature; he is devilish handsome. He will be the handsomest man in Europe," &c. Stockmar notes the hoidenish manners, good heart, and strong will of Princess Charlotte. "Handsomer than I expected, with most peculiar manners, … laughing a great deal, and talking still more." He was, evidently, rather shocked by her want of decorum, but he noted with satisfaction the simplicity and good taste of her dress. He was devoted to his master, and predicts that the Princess's impressionable, generous nature will develop and improve under his influence and that of a refined and affectionate home, which the poor child had never known. The Princess herself said to Stockmar: "My mother was bad, but she would not have become as bad as she was if my father had not been infinitely worse." Stockmar was devoted to Leopold, and spoke of him in a private letter as "My glorious master, a manly prince and a princely man."