of _all_ the
ladies, and the Tories defended instead of denying this, that I
did not doubt the fact to have been so; and moreover I was told
that Peel's behaviour had created a strong sentiment of dislike
towards him in the Queen, and from her representations and the
language of her letter it was clear the impression on her mind
was that no consideration was intended to be shown to her
feelings and wishes, but, on the contrary, that they meant to
abuse their power to the utmost. At the ball last night I put the
question directly to Lord Normanby and Ben Stanley, and they both
declared that the Queen's understanding was that the demand for
power to dismiss the Ladies was unqualified by any intimation of
an intention not to exercise that power to the utmost extent;
that she believed they were _all_ to be taken from her, and under
this impression she had sent her ultimatum by which the whole
thing was terminated. But I had afterwards a conversation with
Lord Wharncliffe, who gave me an account of all that had passed,
placed the matter in a very different light, and proved beyond a
doubt that there was no lack of deference and consideration on
the part of Peel, but, on the contrary, the clearest indication
of an intention and desire to consult her wishes and feelings in
every respect, and that, instead of a sweeping demand for the
dismissal of _all_ her Ladies, he had approached that subject
with delicacy and caution, and merely suggested the expediency of
some partial changes, for reasons (especially when taken with
other things) by no means insufficient. So little disposition was
there on the part of Peel to regard her with distrust or to
fetter her social habits, that when she said, 'You must not
expect me to give up the society of Lord Melbourne,' he replied
that 'Nothing could be further from his thoughts than to
interfere with Her Majesty's society in any way, or to object to
her receiving Lord Melbourne as she pleased, and that he should
always feel perfectly secure in the honour of Lord Melbourne,
that he would not avail himself improperly of his intercourse
with her.' When she said that she should like to have Lord
Liverpool about her, he immediately acquiesced, and proposed that
he should be Lord Steward, and he suggested certain other
persons, whom he said he proposed because he believed they were
personally agreeable to her; but when he began to talk of 'some
modification of the Ladies of her household,' she s