Victoria paces through the foyer of her mother’s apartment behind the palace walls, cursing the prime minister’s insistence that a queen must be married to earn her independence. Twenty years old is pushing it, she knows, she’ll soon be what is deemed a “spinster”.
She pauses each time she passes the mirror; she pinches her cheeks delicately once, twice, then harder the last time to make it last. It’s silly, but she does want to look her best for her cousin.
Marriage just seems so far off, there’s yet to be a potential suitor. There was Charles and his wretched breath, James and his fondness for men (“You’re my only girlfriend,” he’d plead) and George and his sisters who tried incessantly to run her away.
Her cousin, Prince Albert, enters the long hall behind her and she sees his boyish figure in the reflection of the mirror. She hardly knows him and dreads that a courtship will leave her fatigued. Before she can turn to greet him, he embraces her in a passionate kiss. His breath, it’s not foul, the kiss is certainly that of a man who fancies a lady and there’s no need to fret over sisters, after all, she is already family. Perhaps it is within reach, she thought, besotted.
“Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.”
England
c. 1840
Carved Gilt Wood
22.5" diameter x 4.5" deep
$1800
England
c. 1840
Carved Gilt Wood
22.5" diameter x 4.5" deep
$1800
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