there was never a fire in the dining-room. She enquired why. The answer
was "the Lord Steward lays the fire, and the Lord Chamberlain lights
it;" the underlings of those two great noblemen having failed to come
to an accommodation, there was no help for it--the Queen must eat in the
cold.

A surprising incident opened everyone's eyes to the confusion and
negligence that reigned in the Palace. A fortnight after the birth of
the Princess Royal the nurse heard a suspicious noise in the room next
to the Queen's bedroom. She called to one of the pages, who, looking
under a large sofa, perceived there a crouching figure "with a most
repulsive appearance." It was "the boy Jones." This enigmatical
personage, whose escapades dominated the newspapers for several ensuing
months, and whose motives and character remained to the end ambiguous,
was an undersized lad of 17, the son of a tailor, who had apparently
gained admittance to the Palace by climbing over the garden wall and
walking in through an open window. Two years before he had paid a
similar visit in the guise of a chimney-sweep. He now declared that he
had spent three days in the Palace, hiding under various beds, that he
had "helped himself to soup and other eatables," and that he had "sat
upon the throne, seen the Queen, and heard the Princess Royal squall."
Every detail of the strange affair was eagerly canvassed. The Times
reported that the boy Jones had "from his infancy been fond of reading,"
but that "his countenance is exceedingly sullen." It added: "The sofa
under which the boy Jones was discovered, we understand, is one of
the most costly and magnificent material and workmanship, and ordered
expressly for the accommodation of the royal and illustrious visitors
who call to pay their respects to Her Majesty." The culprit was sent
for three months to the "House of Correction." When he emerged, he
immediately returned to Buckingham Palace. He was discovered, and sent
back to the "House of Correction" for another three months, after which
he was offered L4 a week by a music hall to appear upon the stage.
He refused this offer, and shortly afterwards was found by the police
loitering round Buckingham Palace. The authorities acted vigorously,
and, without any trial or process of law, shipped the boy Jones off to
sea. A year later his ship put into Portsmouth to refit, and he at once
disembarked and walked to London. He was re-arrested before he reached
the Palace, and