As so often since he had placed his position at court, William Lamb stood in his greenhouse with the many flowers he cherished. Someone said he had gardeners who took over this work but that was not true and did not come into question for the Lord. The flowers were meanwhile the only one that remained to him, they were too important to him. Especially the orchids. Orchids were flowers that were difficult to breed so William did not want to trust them to anyone, especially because they were the queen's favorite flowers. Although he was no longer traveling to London, William sent orchids to the Buckingham Palace every week. He had heard that the flowers pleased the queen, so he kept this habit. Meanwhile, a year had passed since he had seen the young monarch the last time, and although he had never admitted it, he missed the queen. Their daily common rides in the park, the long talks and the common dinnings, William missed very much. The young girl had managed to give him in the shortest time what he had lost after the death of his son and his wife. The will to live.
Of course, from the beginning he had been aware that she would marry, because that was the duty of a young queen. Although she had planned to live like Elizabeth, he could convince her of the opposite. William had convinced her that she would be lonely if she did not marry. She would be lonely despite companions. At first, she had refused, and even if he was ashamed to admit, her refusal had pleased him. William had not wanted to lose her, although it was the best for her. However, the refusal of the Queen took an abrupt end when the German Prince came to London. His arrival changed everything. For all of them. Suddenly he had become less and less important to the young monarch, and he soon realized that he had to retire. It was time to go back to Brocket Hall. The Queen, too, had told him this indirectly. On her wedding day. Farewell had broken his heart. Of course it had been right, but the right one was not always easy, and on the other hand, the queen was happy - he had seen it in her beautiful, blue eyes - and that was the only thing that mattered to him. That she was happy.
That same evening he had returned to Brocket Hall and his life in London had come to an end.
Sighing heavily, the former Prime Minister pushed the thoughts away and looked at the white orchid in front of him. It was a beautiful, pure white flower. A true masterpiece. Smiling slightly, he poured the flower when suddenly an all-too familiar voice sounded behind him. "Lord Melbourne?" He would have recognized the voice among thousands. Slowly, William set the watering can on the table before turning to the queen. As so often, he went down on one knee, kissed the gloved hand of the queen, and straightened up again. "Your Majesty..what...a surprise," the elder smiled kindly as he looked at the queen. "I hope I do not disturb you Lord Melbourne?" The young monarch had her gaze wandering over the many flowers, and he stayed on the orchid which William had just poured. "Of course you not do it Ma'am, Brocket Hall is honored to have you here again, and I too." William wondered what had led the Queen to Brocket Hall, and the answer to that question came quickly. "I need a friendly advice from you Lord M." the queen said softly as she took off one glove and ran her delicate fingers on a petal of orchid. "A advice ma'am?" She nodded. "Yes. It seems quite as I would not cope without you. For the umpteenth time." The monarch took a deep breath and looked at him. "Robert Peel and my husband seem to gets to act against me. After the birth of our daughter Albert took over the entire business of government but now that I'm fine again he does it still. And Robert Peel supports him." William frowned at the Queen's words. That was a tricky thing and he had to be careful what he said. His words had to be chosen wisely because the queen should not think that he supported what the Prince and Robert Peel did.
"What am I supposed to do, Lord M? I'm afraid I'll lose my crown just because I've been allowed to get pregnant." The Queen's voice sounded almost desperate. "Help me. I do not know what to do. I need your advice Lord M." Slowly William nodded and laid a hand on the queen's back. "Please come...I want to show you something," he said softly, leading the younger to a flower box in which no flowers were yet.
"You know...a marriage is never easy, especially when such a burden as the crown is on the marriage." William made a small hole in the ground and took some seeds which were lying on a small plate beside the flower box. "My wife Caroline and I did not have such a burden, and yet the marriage was broken. Look...a marriage is like a flower..." He put the seeds into the hole in the ground and then closed it again. "She needs time, lots of attention and confidence so she can thrive," the elderly said before he saw the queen who watched him closely. "The Prince Consert loves you, and I am confident that he would never want to harm you, not with intent." Now it was the queen who frowned. "How can you be so sure? I mean...your wife did you wrong. She hurt you in the worst way. Where do you take the trust in love?" , she asked softly, and the question elicited William a smile. "Well ... if you love someone you do not want to hurt him, in no way, you would choose to suffer rather than the person you love, you try to keep everything bad from her ... no matter what that is for yourself means. " William shook his head slightly. "I think the prince thinks that he is doing you good with it. To relieve you of the work after suffering so as to give him a child is his way of saying thank you," he explained with a slight smile and looked at the queen which "But he does not need to do that." Unlike before, the Queen's voice was now full of love, which surely was due to the fact that she saw her husband's doing differently. Slowly they both rose up and the queen now looked at him again. With a smile that brought his broken heart to a small jump. "I thank you Lord M." she reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. A smile lay on Williams' lips as his heart broke apart a bit more. He had to let her go. Again. The young queen leaned forward and kissed his cheek before gently pressing his hand. "Goodbye Lord M." He nodded. "Goodbye Ma'am."
