Free Far Above Rubies by Anne-Marie Vukelic Page A

that the procession from Buckingham Palace had been led by trumpeters, life guards and a marching band, and although he had not been able to catch a glimpse of the royal carriage, he had heard that the Queen’s head was crowned with diamonds and that she wore a crimson cape trimmed with ermine. The next day reports of the coronation filled the pages of the newspapers. Charles perused the Morning Chronicle over his breakfast and then I noticed that he studied one section of print very carefully, ‘Well, I never!’ he whispered, and discreetly wiped a tear from his eye.
    ‘Listen to this, Kate. It says here that when one of the elderly lords took the steps to pay homage to the Queen he fell and rolled right down the steps to the throne. In fear that the old man might be hurt, the Queen advanced and took his arm to aid him to his feet.’
    His face shone with delight. ‘I think that we should not underestimate the diminutive size of our little sovereign. I think that she has the determination to shape our world in ways yet unknown.’

CHAPTER TWELVE
    August 1838
    Coutts and Company, The Strand
     
    Not far from Holborn, in the Strand, is a fine-looking banking establishment known as Coutts and Company. Designed by the architect John Nash, its entrance reminds an imaginative onlooker of two pepper pots side by side. Within the grand walls, sits a row of clerks, each one behind his mahogany desk, over which money and gold change hands in the most dignified manner. Acting upon the advice of John Forster, Charles met Mr Edward Marjoribanks, a partner in the bank and opened an account there. The sum deposited was a nominal amount and so Charles was surprised to be afforded the courtesies of an old and valued client. Upon hearing that London’s well-known author had become a customer, Miss Angela Burdett-Coutts seized the chance of an introduction.
    Miss Burdett-Coutts’s grandfather had had no sons and neither had her late mother. Consequently the lady had recently found herself heiress to a sizeable fortune. My husband was most impressed to find that at the age of twenty-four, she had just one great wish: to use her wealth to help the less fortunate. After their first meeting, Charles arrived home full of excitement and enthusiasm. I was sitting at my needlework when he burst into the room with the words, ‘Kate, I have just met the most marvellous woman! We really must invite her to our home.’
    I felt myself prickle with resentment and stopped my sewing mid-stitch.
    ‘What do you mean – the most marvellous woman?’
    He paced the room energetically, slapping his gloves upon his hands.
    ‘She’s got money, Kate, lots of it. But she has resolved to share it with the less fortunate in society. Isn’t that wonderful?’
    ‘I don’t see what that has got to do with us,’ I said, resuming my stitching.
    Charles fell upon one knee and stilled my work with his hand.
    ‘But don’t you see? She has access to money that can fund my ideas for social reform.’
    In his earnestness he caught his finger upon my needle and I watched with dismay as a drop of blood fell and spread into a crimson stain upon my cross-stitch.
    ‘Oh, Charles!’ I cried in exasperation. ‘Look what you have done now.’
    A look of hurt and disappointment fell across his face.
    ‘Well, perhaps if you showed a little more interest in what I had to tell you, it wouldn’t have happened.’ And with an air of dejection he left the room.
    It was true, I had no interest in social matters whatsoever. Of course I felt sorry for those in the workhouse, for children who had to labour under terrible conditions and for those who did not know where their next meal was coming from. But these were issues that I preferred not to dwell upon. I found it all too depressing. Yet, if I was to keep my husband’s favour then I knew I must show greater support for his interests. I put my sewing to one side and sought him out.
    I found him in the sitting room, angrily