To understand fully Melbourne's performance as Home Secretary and
Prime Minister it is vital to keep in mind the vicissitudes of his private life,
for they informed everything he did. His marriage had left terrible scars. He
had survived the experience by cauterizing his feelings. Avoiding emotional
or intellectual commitment of any sort became his preferred option. He was
horribly afraid of taking anything or anyone too seriously, lest such involve-
ment should lead to the experiences of his marriage being repeated. An
armour of amused and philosophical detachment was his everyday wear. It
is just possible that the young Victoria unconsciously breached his emotional
defences. Some contemporaries suspected that he was genuinely fond of her.
If this was so, she enjoyed something of a monopoly. After his wife's death,
in January 1828, Melbourne was alone. He had friends, houses in which to
dine, and a family that worried and fretd about him as they had always
done, but these advantages left him increasingly unsatisfied. He looked for
diversion rather than commitment, and this was as true in politics as in pri-
vate life. Losing office left him with time hanging heavily on his hands. When
amusements palled, an increasing sourness took over, with letters being writ-
ten that unreasonably complained of neglect and depression. In a profound
sense, the shadows cast over his life by an extraordinary marriage never lifted.
Caroline Lamb's death in no sense permitted a freeing of his emotions.

Melbourne had always enjoyed the company of women, and continued to
do so after 1828. It was not, however, the physical side of such relationships
that was of great importance. Unlike his father, brothers, and virtually every
other Whig male, Melbourne seemingly took no mistresses before 1828, apart
from the incident in 1802 which he recorded in his draft autobiography. This
was abstinence on an almost heroic scale. Even after 1828, he denied that his
relationships with Lady Branden and Mrs Norton had ever been physically
consummated, even though the world at large thought otherwise. In the case
of Mrs Norton, it is quite possible that he was telling the truth. Rather, he
liked the company of women who amused him and talked intelligently.

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