After Peel’s 100-day stint in office, Melbourne was back. He took advantage of his return to rid himself of some figures he disliked in his government, though he had to keep Palmerston in place, despite his dislike of all activism.

That dislike was based on his pursuit of an easy life, so it’s not surprising that though he had a few achievements, there weren’t many and they weren’t spectacular.

Much more important were the women who marked his second administration. The first was Caroline Norton, whose husband sued him for adultery. More important still, was the new young Queen who came to the throne in 1837 when her uncle William IV died. Victoria had arrived. Melbourne would be her mentor.

Illustration: Queen Victoria, replica by Sir George Hayter, 1863, based on a work of 1838

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License