The baptism of the Prince was to be a lavish event. By six in the morning, the entire royal family was dressed to the nines. The tiny Prince was then dressed to the nines as well, in his exquisite christening gown, which his Royal Highness did not appreciate at all and reacted to by kicking and wailing like a typical infant. Though few people were aware of it, the Prince's visit to the church had really resulted in a little catastrophe. The state nurse-maid, an elegant and fashionable young lady of rank who was in charge of carrying him to and from the chapel, instead of his regular nurse, had been so preoccupied with organizing her train while holding the baby with the other hand that she stumbled and let him fall, right at the foot of the marble staircase. Of course, she managed to pick him up again right away, and the mishap seemed scarcely worth mentioning given how little it was. As a result, no one mentioned it. No one a few steps behind could see anything was amiss since the infant had grown deadly pale but did not cry. Later, even if the baby had cried, the sound of the silver trumpets would have drowned everything out. It would have been unfortunate to let anything ruin such a happy day.
Dinah Maria Mulock was born on April 20, 1826, in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. She is frequently referred to as Miss Mulock or Mrs. Craik. Her best-known work is the novel John Halifax, Gentleman, which depicts the aspirations of English middle-class life in the middle of the nineteenth century. His uncertain circumstances had an impact on her upbringing and early years, but she received a decent education from a variety of sources and was inspired to pursue a career as a writer. She arrived in London in 1846, at the same time as her friends Charles Edward Mudie and Alexander Macmillan. She married George Lillie Craik in 1865, the nephew of George Lillie Craik, and a partner with Alexander Macmillan in the publishing house Macmillan & Company. In 1849, Mulock published her first books, and in 1853, she gathered them in Avillion and Other Tales. Nothing New, a compilation with a similar theme, was published in 1857. She released John Halifax, Gentleman in 1857, which outlined the ideals of English middle-class living. A Life for a Life (1859), Mulock's subsequent significant book, earned more money and was maybe more extensively read than John Halifax at the time. Later, Craik moved back to fantastical stories, and The Little Lame Prince was a hit (1874).
