A Curious Beginning

Veronica and Stoker spend a pleasant day at the Belvedere, kept inside by the rain. The next day, as they head to the bank, Veronica feels that they are “embarking upon the final leg of [their] adventure” (270-71). The city bustles on the cusp of celebrating Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. The bank manager has been instructed to release the box only if Veronica can prove her identity by producing Chester, which she does. He leaves Stoker and Veronica with the box, which contains a packet of papers. Inside is a birth certificate naming Veronica’s father Prince Albert Edward, Queen Victoria’s son and the Prince of Wales, and a marriage certificate saying that he and Lily had wed, making Veronica a legitimate child.

Stoker sends a shocked Veronica to Hyde Park; he joins her shortly, having stolen a history of the British royal family from a nearby bookseller. He determines that Prince Albert Edward married Princess Alexandra of Denmark 10 days before Veronica’s mother died. The marriage certificate shows that Lily and Albert Edward’s marriage was witnessed by Aunt Lucy and Max. Because Albert remarried before Lily died, the marriage and his resulting children with Alexandra are illegitimate.