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QUEEN VICTORIA'S REALM 1837-40:
CHAPTER 1: THE MYSTERY OF QUEEN VICTORIA'S MISSING WEDDING RING The seaside Lord Ashley, Mr Miller and the children had a wonderful day out at the seaside town. They had been wheeled into the sea on bathing machines. A bathing machine was like a small garden shed on wheels, only it had no floor. This meant that they could bathe in the sea without anyone seeing them wearing their bathing costumes. After their dip in the sea Mr Miller took the children to see a children’s puppet show in the brand new theatre. By now the children were starving. Mr Miller had arranged to meet Lord Ashley in a tea house that was close by. Here the children wolfed down plates of fresh sandwiches, cakes, buns and scones and glasses of lemonade. Tea over, a horse drawn hansom cab took them all back to the railway station. Home Their train chugged slowly into Kings Cross station, passing through miles of newly built terraced houses and shops. Waiting for them at Kings Cross station was Lord Ashley’s carriage. Its four black stallions stood quietly, eating oats and hay from their nosebags. The driver’s long, brown, thick felt coat reached the ground and was buttoned up to his chin. On his head perched a black peaked cap. When he had taken off the horses’ nosebags he climbed up on his seat on top of the coach. Lord Ashley, Mr Miller and the children sat happily inside the coach, looking out through the glass windows. The driver shouted and flicked his whip; at once the four horses trotted out of the railway station. Flickering gas lamps lit the way. The coach rattled through the gloomy, yellow fog filled cobbled streets of London. It dropped off Mr Miller at his home and finally reached Lord Ashley’s large mansion, Alice and Tom were staying the night. Lord Ashley’s house The coach pulled up outside the grand front door with its large, shining dolphin shaped bronze knocker. As they walked into the house Beryl the maid curtsied to Alice, Tom, Sam and Jane. Beryl took the children to their four bedrooms where they found clean sheets, feather mattresses and thick wool blankets waiting. Welcoming coal fires burned brightly in the iron grates. Each child washed in a large china bowl using warm water from jugs that Anne the maid had carried up to their rooms. A gong then called them down stairs to supper. On the table in the dining room stood a feast of bread, butter, cold chicken and turkey, slices of roast beef and ham, pickles, tomatoes and cucumbers and glasses of lemonade. Best of all was a large tub full of homemade strawberry and vanilla ice cream. Before the meal Lord Ashley read from the Bible and then said grace, a prayer of thanks to God. He and the children ate in silence as they wolfed down the delicious meal. Lord Ashley and Queen Victoria’s wedding ring Two maids, Anne and Beryl, cleared supper away. Alice and Tom were very tired, asked to go to bed and left the room. Lord Ashley then told Sam and Jane, The ring Sam and Jane pleaded with Lord Ashley to see the ring. Lord Ashley was also bursting to see what it looked like. With a smile he said that they could see it. Quickly they trooped up the stairs, Lord Ashley unlocked his bedroom door with his own key. The ring sat on his dressing table inside a small, red leather box decorated with the royal coat of arms. Lord Ashley pressed a catch on the box, its lid sprang open. The pure gold ring lay on a red silk cushion. Set into the gold around the ring’s rim were eight small glittering and dazzling diamonds. They all gasped in amazement, Lord Ashley turned and said, Breakfast Next day was bright and sunny. Sam and Jane could not wait to meet Queen Victoria and Albert at Buckingham’s Palace. Alice and Tom had a shopping trip to look forward to. The children were stuffing themselves with kippers, eggs, bacon, tomatoes, fried potatoes and bread and butter when Lord Ashley burst into the dining room. CHAPTER 2: THE YOUNG DETECTIVES top The young detectives Five minutes later Lord Ashley returned. Jane said, The bedroom Lord Ashley’s bedroom was huge. In the middle stood a large four poster double bed, with drawn velvet curtains across the two sides and bottom. The four carved wooden columns on each corner almost reached the ceiling. They held up a gold cloth cover, a panoply. Two large leather armchairs stood on one side of the room, a writing desk stood against the wall by the door that was covered in thick, lush green and gold wall paper. The bedroom had a huge bow window that overlooked a large square walled garden. The sun shone in through the wide open windows. Lord Ashley had drawn the curtains when he woke up and opened them. The dressing table stood in the bow window bay; as he dressed Lord Ashley could look at the flowers and trees ten metres below and listen to the birds. Searching the bedroom Tom asked Lord Ashley if they could be left alone to explore the room. They carefully searched the bedroom for clues. On the dressing table were Lord Ashley’s face cream jar, silver hairbrush and cigarette case, his gold watch, a wallet and a leather bag full of gold sovereigns. The only thing that seemed to have been touched was the open jar of face cream. It stood on the edge of the table. There was a deep scratch mark in the cream. The box that had held Queen Victoria’s ring lay open. When Jane and Sam went to bed last night Lord Ashley had left the ring on the box’s tiny silk cushion in full view. Nothing seemed to have been moved on the dressing table. The children found no clues in the rest of the room to suggest that it had been broken into and burgled. As they looked their hearts sank, how could they help Lord Ashley who had been so kind to Tom and Alice? Fingerprints, footprints and scientific evidence Jane then took out her seeing mirror. She used the forensica spell stored in her wizard micro-chip to see if there were any fingerprints on the dressing table, any strange footprints and whether there was any scientific evidence in the bedroom that could link the theft to anyone in the house. Jane’s seeing mirror flashed up the results of the search. The only fingerprints on the dressing table and the wedding ring box were those of Lord Ashley, Anne the scullery maid and Beryl the tea maid. The seeing mirror showed no other scientific evidence like traces of DNA. The bedroom search over, they all went downstairs to the sitting room. Searching the house After ten minutes Lord Ashley returned with a list of people in the house for the children to look at. The children had a chat about what to do next and agreed on a plan. Jane asked Lord Ashley, Lord Ashley Lord Ashley nodded, called Charles the Butler and asked him to tell all of the servants to wait outside his study at once. As she waited, Jane took out her seeing mirror with its x-ray vision. Lord The garden The garden had a four metre high wall all around it. In the garden were tall oak and ash trees, a giant cedar and a potting shed. Birds nested in them. Against the wall stood a ladder that almost reached its top. There was a gate in the wall that led out on to the street and a door to the coach house and stables. The gate and door were locked. Below the bow window of Lord Ashley’s bedroom was a freshly dug and planted flowerbed. Searching the garden Sam, Alice and Tom played hide and seek in the garden while looking for clues. They looked everywhere, but could find nothing in the garden apart from two deep marks twenty centimetres apart in the flowerbed. Under the thick branches of the cedar tree there were the fresh footprints of Anne the tea maid and Edward the Coachman. There were no signs that a burglar had climbed up the laurel bush or the ivy on the front of the house. There were no broken leaves or branches, no trampled earth or plants in the flowerbed, no footprints on the path or lawn apart from those of Andrew the gardener. The interviews After ten minutes the servants who were waiting to see Jane outside Lord Ashley’s study were:
‘Where were you and what were you doing at the time the ring disappeared? Did you see or hear anything suspicious? Do you know anyone who might have stolen the ring? Why do you think it might have been stolen? Is there anything you know that might help?’ Andrew the gardener was a tall, dark handsome man who wanted to join the army. He lived in the coach house. Sarah the stable girl was a close friend. Jane asked him where he was and what he was doing that morning, ‘After I got up from my bedroom in the stables I had breakfast and went to the potting shed. Then I cleared up the garden that morning to pick up twigs and leaves that had blown on to the lawn in last night’s storm. I left the ladder against the back wall of the garden. Yesterday I had planted the flower bed under Lord Ashley’s bedroom window. I had used the ladder to trim the laurel bush below the window. There were no signs that anyone had been in the garden. I heard or saw nothing suspicious.’ Anne the scullery [washing up] maid was a timid, frightened girl who had worked for Lord Ashley for a year. Anne looked after her mum and dad who were too old to work. She was afraid that they would have to go and live in the workhouse. She was very friendly with Edward the coachman who had asked her to marry him. Anne blurted out, ‘I got up this morning at dawn and did all the washing up left over from last night’s dinner. Then I helped get breakfast ready: boiled, scrambled and poached eggs, toast, kippers, kidneys and porridge. Lord Ashley then rang the bell to tell us that he was in his bathroom. That was when I would clean his fire. He had unlocked his bedroom to let me in. All I did was sweep, dust, clean and lay the fire and make the bed. I made sure that their was not a speck of dust on the dressing table or what was on it. Then I went downstairs with the tea maid. We were only in the room for five minutes. I didn’t hear or see anything suspicious.’ Beryl the tea maid was waiting to see Jane as soon as Anne left. Beryl was short and dumpy with a plain, oval ashen face, button nose and soft brown eyes. Beryl had only worked for Lord Ashley for a month. Jane’s forensica spell showed that as a child Beryl had been a member of a street gang of thieves. Beryl was in tears, she sobbed and murmured. ‘This morning I got up at dawn as usual. Then I was busy in the kitchen getting the breakfast ready, helping bake bread and currant buns and making sure that the dining room table was laid. I had to put out all the knives, forks, plates, bowls and cups and saucers and napkins. Once finished I went downstairs and helped bring up all of the food to put on a hot plate. While the family had breakfast I helped dust and sweep the bedrooms, make the beds and lay the fires. Back in the kitchen I heard the bell ring from Lord Ashley’s bedroom to come and bring up his early morning tea tray.’ Beryl continues ‘I placed it on the dressing room table – it meant that I had to move the box with the ring in it. I then went down to the kitchen. When he rang again I went back to his bedroom to take the tea tray away. Anne the scullery maid was busy working, so I helped her finish her chores. We left the room at the same time. I don’t know how long Lord Ashley stayed in his bath, I could hear him singing loudly. And, I can’t remember seeing or hearing anything odd.’ Margaret the cook As Beryl went out she winked at Margaret the Cook. Margaret was a tall, big boned woman with raw red hands. She stood upright and looked Jane in the eye. Jane knew that she was very friendly with Charles the Butler. They hoped to get married and set up a small seaside hotel. They did not know where to get the money from to do this; their savings would not be enough to pay for it. Margaret said to Jane: Charles’s evidence ‘The first thing I did when I got up was to go round the house to make sure that the servants were all working. They had to draw the curtains, clean the rooms, lay and light the fires and make sure that the house was spick and span. After that I put out Lord Ashley’s clean clothes, watch and cuff links before he bathed. I fetched the watch and cufflinks from his dressing room table. He had unlocked the room to let me in, I had given him my key. I saw nothing suspicious. Nothing had been moved. I am pretty sure that the ring was not missing. The bow windows over the garden were wide open and the sun was shining. I noticed that Lord Ashley had left his bible open on the dressing table. Then I went down to the kitchen for my early morning cup of tea and breakfast that the cook had made for me. When Lord Ashley rang for me to come and help him dress after his bath I noticed that the ring had gone from the box. I thought that my lord must have put it somewhere safe.’ Edward the coachman Next to see Jane was Edward the coachman. Jane’s forensica spell told her that Edward the coachman was a gambler. He had lost all of his money betting on the horses and did not know how he would pay off his debts. Jane asked him where he was that morning: ‘As usual, I got up at dawn and cleaned the stables, fed the horses and made sure that their saddles and harnesses were clean and polished. Anne came in to see how I was feeling, last night I had been unwell. She stayed for a time, and left to get on with her work. I stayed in the stables until my work was finished. I could not have been near the bedroom. When I had finished cleaning out the horses I went and had a chat with the cook, she always gives me some tea and cake at the time Lord Ashley gets up. I can’t say that I have seen or heard anything suspicious. My window was open last night, I certainly heard the rain storm, but nothing else.’ Sarah the stable maid The final servant to see Jane was Sarah. She came in straight after Edward departed. Sarah was a bold, confident girl. She was an orphan, and had learnt to look after herself in the workhouse. The workhouse guardians had apprenticed her to Lord Ashley. Andrew and she were very friendly. Sarah planned to marry Andrew, although she had not told him of her plans. She said, ‘I was polishing the horse brasses and cleaning the saddles and bridles all morning. I heard and saw nothing. Nobody came in to the stables while Edward and I fed the horses and made sure that they were ready to be ridden or hitched to the carriage.’ Lord Ashley Jane thanked Sarah for being so helpful. By now they had interviewed all of the servants. Lord Ashley entered the room, the last person she would interview. ‘I am sure that all of the servants are innocent. They are all devout Christians who go to church twice every Sunday. I got up and opened the dressing table window. It was a bright sunny day after the storms of last night. The ring was still on the dressing room table when I went to have my bath, its diamonds flashed in the sunlight. Beryl the tea maid brought me my early morning cup of tea. I rang for her to come and take it away and for Anne the scullery maid to clean my room. I also rang for Charles the butler to come and lay out my clothes ready for me to wear as soon as I had finished my bath.’ Alice, Sam and Tom They sat together drinking orange juice and eating delicious hot currant buns from the kitchen. Jane heard that they had found nothing in the house, coach house, stables or the garden. Jane also asked them if they had seen and heard anything odd before breakfast. Tom and Sam said that they had stayed in bed until just before breakfast; they thought that they had heard a rattling from outside their bedrooms that overlooked the garden. Alice had got up early, ‘I went to see the horses in the stables. There was no sign of Sarah; she had clearly cleaned the brasses, saddles and harnesses the night before. I also passed the potting shed, the door was open. The shed was empty. I did notice that the door from the garden to the coach house where Andrew lived was shut and that the bedroom curtains were drawn.’ CHAPTER 4: THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED top The mystery is solved In the sitting room the children talked about all the clues they had found and the evidence they contained about who might have stolen the ring, when, how and why. They argued about who might have been the thief, at last agreeing on one story as the grandfather clock chimed eleven. This was when Jane had told Lord Ashley that they would tell him the solution of the mystery of Queen Victoria’s missing wedding ring. Cocky Pheasant and Cleo had returned, they had searched everywhere. Jane’s reducit micro-chip spell had shrunk them, they were back safe inside the thimble size cauldron in her pocket. Lord Ashley came into the room as white as a sheet. If he had lost Queen Victoria’s wedding ring he was a ruined man. He sat wringing his hands, twining his fingers and chewing his lip. He murmured, ‘Well Jane, can you tell me who stole the ring? And, has it gone for ever?’ The solution Jane cleared her throat and spoke slowly and softly: ‘We have talked about all the evidence and are agreed on the solution. The problem is that there are very few clues. We could find no evidence that anyone had taken anything from the dressing table. The fingerprints on the dressing room table and its objects were those that you would expect: Anne dusted and cleaned while Beryl the tea maid left the tea tray on it. Charles the Butler had also fetched Lord Ashley’s watch and cufflinks from it, although we should remember he was wearing gloves. We know that a number of the servants had a really good reason, a strong motive, for stealing money. So, why would a thief only take the ring and leave behind the bag of gold sovereigns, the watch and the silver hair brush and mirror? Also, why should they steal things they would be certain to be accused of taking? And, when we searched the servants’ rooms and the coach house we found nothing. The burglar We are sure that a burglar had not come in through the garden gate and climbed the ivy into the bedroom. There were two marks where a ladder might have been placed below the window in the flower bed. But, we know that the ladder was too short for anyone to climb in through the bedroom window. Any way, Andrew the gardener told us he had used the ladder the day before to trim the laurel bush under the window. The remaining clue was the open window, when I looked out Alice spotted where the ring might have gone. So, using two old friends I was able to search for and find it.’ The ring returns At that Jane opened her hand and placed Queen Victoria’s wedding ring on the table. Lord Ashley smiled broadly and let out a deep sigh of relief. ‘How did you find it? Where was it?’ Jane looked pleased with herself, she was bursting to tell him how she, Alice, Sam and Tom had solved the crime. ‘The ring was stolen, but the thief did not live in the house. He stole your ring while you were in the bath. The key clue was the deep scratch mark in the face cream. It showed how the thief had stolen the ring from the dressing table. The ring was glinting in the bright sunlight, so the thief snatched it. The thief took the ring back to his nest at the top of the oak tree: he was a magpie. I have been able to retrieve the ring from his nest – don’t ask me how, that is another mystery!’ As she spoke the clock in the sitting room struck twelve. Lord Ashley stood up, thanked Jane for what she had done and said, To the palace ‘Luckily you have all solved the mystery in time for us to go straight to Buckingham Palace. We must hurry, my carriage is waiting outside. Mr Miller left me a message, he had said that he would call round to take Alice and Tom to the new toy shop that has opened in Regent’s Street, the largest in the world. It has all of the latest toys and games. I have given him five guineas to buy you presents as a reward for finding the missing wedding ring.’ Alice and Tom were delighted and hugged each other. Jane and Sam were not quite as happy. Although it was a great honour to meet the young Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, they would have happily swapped their visit for a trip to the toy shop. They knew that Mr Miller would buy Alice and Tom lots and lots of lovely presents. CHAPTER 5: VICTORIA AND ALBERT Buckingham Palace The day was freezing cold, puddles had frozen solid and it had begun to snow. The team of four black horses stood outside the front door of Lord Ashley’s house waiting to pull his carriage to Buckingham Palace. White mist like cloud, water vapour, rose from the stallions’ shining coats. Andrew the groom and Sarah the stable maid had spent an hour washing, brushing and polishing their hides until they gleamed. Bows of pink ribbon were woven into the stallions’ pleated manes. Lord Ashley, Sam and Jane climbed into the carriage, it set off at a brisk trot to Buckingham Palace where Prince Albert was staying. The palace’s gate swung open, they drove up the gravelled drive to the front door. The sitting room A servant showed Lord Ashley and the children into Queen Victoria’s sitting room where she met visitors. On the floor was a dark blue woven wool carpet with a pattern of tulips and roses. A sofa covered in large feather cushions stood facing the fire, on each side of the sofa were three large armchairs with red and white cotton covers. A large mahogany oval table stood just behind the sofa. Above the fire was a full length portrait of the Queen. Three King Charles spaniels lay lolling on a thick bear skin rug in front of the log fire. Queen Victoria Queen Victoria’s long white plain silk dress hung from her shawl covered shoulders down to the ground. Sam realised that the Queen was tiny, under five feet tall. She wore a gold necklace with a large, oval ruby pendant and matching earrings. Victoria looked at her visitors, Jane noticed her soft, sparkling brown eyes, oval face with plump pink cheeks, a long straight nose, pencil thin brown eyebrows, a broad forehead and short straight black hair that was swept back and tied in a bun. Prince Albert Prince Albert stood up: he was almost six feet tall, a handsome, well built man. Sam spotted that Victoria looked at him adoringly. On Albert’s feet were pointed highly polished black leather boots, he wore dark blue trousers, a gold and white waistcoat, starched white shirt and a dark blue jacket. His thinning short black hair stretched down both sides of his face in thick sideburns to his chin. The sideburns framed a long, thin face with a firm jaw, small, short clipped moustache and pointed nose. Lord Ashley and the children bowed and curtsied to the royal couple, who asked them to sit down. Teatime Victoria rang a bell, a servant appeared with a tray loaded with scones, jam, butter, a silver teapot and jugs of milk and cream. The servant poured the tea into tiny china cups painted with flowers, Victoria and Albert helped themselves to butter, jam and scones and Lord Ashley and the children tucked in as well. Prince Albert told Lord Ashley Christmas trees ‘Your majesty, what customs will you bring with you from Germany? CHAPTER 6: VICTORIA AND ALBERT - THE SKATING ACCIDENT top Skating Queen Victoria had stayed inside, she needed to talk about the wedding with Lord Ashley. Prince Albert had put on a long black coat, a finely woven black scarf and a black top hat. A servant had used leather laces to tightly strap his and Sam’s skates to their feet. Sam thought how old and heavy were the skates, with their solid iron blades set into strong leather boots. Sam was a speed skater, he looked forward to sprinting round the ice and racing Prince Albert.‘Ready?’, said the prince. Sam nodded, and together they glided effortlessly across the pond’s ice, getting faster and faster. Round and round they whirled, getting faster and faster as they sped around the ice’s outside edge. Jane was wrapped up in a thick wool coat when her seeing mirror began to throb. Danger! Jane looked up and could see the Prince had sprinted ahead of Sam towards a thin patch of ice. At once she knew that it would not take his weight, he would crash through the surface head first into the freezing water. Jane let out a shriek, The theatre At supper Sam, Jane and Prince Albert had said little, they were still in a state of shock. That evening Queen Victoria had planned a special treat for Prince Albert, a play in the royal theatre at Buckingham Palace. Lord Ashley, Sam and Jane sat in the front row along with thirty royal guests. Alice and Tom had joined them. The Queen and Prince Albert sat on two sturdy armchairs on a raised platform. The play began, it was one of Queen Victoria’s favourites; Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a tale of true love. The gaslights in the room dimmed, a row of candles along the edge of the stage lit up its curtain. The play was a great success, after it ended a row of carriages including Lord Ashley’s were drawn up outside the front door to take Victoria’s guests home. Back home Sam and Jane were drinking a cup of cocoa before going to bed. The sitting room fire was burning brightly in the grate, the glowing logs threw out waves of heat that warmed their frozen feet. Lord Ashley came into the room and looked at Sam and Jane for a second before telling them he had something really important to tell them. The response When he stopped he looked at Sam and Jane. Sam was grinning broadly, he would love to become a soldier. Jane was not too happy with her fate, as she turned to Lord Ashley and said, Sam’s Mum The door bell rang and Jane went to the door. At the door stood Sam’s mum, quivering with rage, The ring ‘Sam, where did you get that ring from? It looks like a copy of Prince Albert’s signet ring. It was just the thing that I was hoping to add to my collection of Victorian jewellery. These rings are very rare. If I had one, it would be the prize item in my collection. They are made of solid gold.’
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