Book Two

Constitution Hill

1840 to 1841

A wreath of white orange blossom, browning at the edges, and a plain gold wedding ring on black crepe, beside a black-bordered letter whose red seal, stamped with a crown, is broken in two. Crown on the Potomac Constitution Hill Book Two 1840 to 1841

June 1840. Queen Victoria, twenty-one, four months married and four months with child, is driving up Constitution Hill when a young man steps out of the crowd and fires two pistols at her carriage. In our history he missed. In this one he does not, and every Crown she held passes to her uncle, the King of Hanover, sixty-nine and the most hated man in England.

Constitution Hill follows five men through the eleven months after: the husband who has no place without her; the Prime Minister who must govern for a King he distrusts; the King who observes every form and tests every one; and, an ocean and thirty-eight days behind the news, the Governor-General and the Prime Minister of America, who have to find out whether they have a King at all.

Each chapter opens with a short extract from the Universal Register, the encyclopedia of the world the book is set in. The extracts are quoted from the Register as it stands; the chapters show what happened in the rooms it was not in.

Begin reading: Chapter One, Queen's Weather → Characters

Part One: The Wedding (February to June 1840)

  1. 1 Queen's Weather Prince Albert. 18 min.
  2. 2 A Wedding Present Henry Clay. 21 min.
  3. 3 A Majority of Nine Lord Melbourne. 19 min.
  4. 4 The Right Hand John Quincy Adams. 19 min.
  5. 5 By Heart Prince Albert. 15 min.

Part Two: Constitution Hill (June to July 1840)

  1. 6 A Hundred Yards Prince Albert. 16 min.
  2. 7 Five Hours John Quincy Adams. 18 min.
  3. 8 Liege Lord Lord Melbourne. 23 min.
  4. 9 The Child to Come Henry Clay. 18 min.
  5. 10 An Old Soldier Ernest I. 19 min.
  6. 11 Chief Mourner Prince Albert. 17 min.
  7. 12 Charter Day John Quincy Adams. 16 min.
  8. 13 His Majesty's Pleasure Lord Melbourne. 27 min.

Part Three: The Crossing (July to August 1840)

  1. 14 The British Queen Henry Clay. 25 min.
  2. 15 In His Own Hand Ernest I. 22 min.
  3. 16 Heirs and Successors John Quincy Adams. 23 min.
  4. 17 Le Roy le Veult Lord Melbourne. 22 min.
  5. 18 A Council of Whoever Is in Town Henry Clay. 24 min.
  6. 19 Make Known John Quincy Adams. 23 min.

Part Four: The First Winter (August 1840 to January 1841)

  1. 20 Twenty-One Prince Albert. 18 min.
  2. 21 The Confidence of the House Lord Melbourne. 21 min.
  3. 22 A House in Scotland Ernest I. 21 min.
  4. 23 One at a Time Henry Clay. 27 min.
  5. 24 A Paper Royal Highness Prince Albert. 23 min.
  6. 25 It Is My Duty John Quincy Adams. 24 min.
  7. 26 In the Proper Form Ernest I. 20 min.
  8. 27 Seventy Henry Clay. 19 min.
  9. 28 By Water Prince Albert. 21 min.
  10. 29 By Violence Lord Melbourne. 21 min.
  11. 30 God Save the King Ernest I. 27 min.