"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Lord Lindhurst shook his head with a slightly theatrical tone. "I knew that King of Belgium was up to no good."
"Ever since he ascended the throne in 1831, has there been a single visit to Britain that wasn't for this matter?" The Earl of Ellenborough calmly put down his newspaper. "Only this time he's learned to be clever: instead of charging in himself, he's trying to get through to the people around Her Majesty the Queen by taking a detour."
The Earl of Aberdeen, who had served as Foreign Secretary, also disliked the Belgians' methods. "Leopold wants to be a member of the Nobility and a businessman at the same time. He wants to curry favor with London, yet cling to Paris's thigh—where in the world do you find such a bargain? But that aside, why didn't he go to his sister? Does the Duchess of Kent not have more of a say than anyone else in her daughter's marriage?"
