Текст книги "Queen in Waiting "

Автор книги: Jean Plaidy

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Now the Countess von Platen did not immediately state the reason for her visit. She would let George Lewis believe what, in any case it did not enter his mind to doubt—that slie had come to enjoy his company.

It was not until the morning that she said: "Her Serene Highness the Electoral Princess has not invited me to her soiree yet. I fancy she considers that I should not be a suitable guest."

George Lewis grunted: "Why not?"

"Since Mesdames Schulemburg and Kielmansegge have not been invited either and we seem to be the only three ladies who have been treated in this way, the reason seems obvious. It is because of our relationship with you. I know you won't allow the silly creature to be so foolish."

"Go without invitations," he said.

The Countess von Platen pretended to shiver. "And incur the wrath of her Serene Highness the Electoral Princess."

"You go ... and tell the others."

"It is your command?"

He grunted.

"And you will be there?"

He nodded.

The Countess von Platen was well pleased. The Princess Caroline had better learn without delay the etiquette of the Court of Hanover.

Sophia Dorothea had taken a liking to her sister-in-law. She pitied her for one thing. Fancy being doomed to spend her life at Hanover! It was Sophia Dorothea's home, of course. But with such a father, it had never been a happy one. He had

shown no affection for his children, although she fancied he did not hate her as bitterly as he did George Augustus. In fact, if he had been a man who knew how to express affection, he might have shown some for her. She was beautiful; she was gay; so perhaps she was too much like her mother.

Her mother! There was the shadow which hung over their lives. Which ever way one looked it was there. She, Sophia Dorothea would be glad to get away and she would soon, for marriage negotiations were being conducted. Frederick William had kept his word; she knew that his father, the king of Prussia had not wanted an alliance with Hanover. In fact he was angry with Hanover for carrying off Caroline right under his nose, which was understandable when he was her guardian. He had wanted her either for the King of Spain or for himself. Poor Caroline, she was in demand, and she had been awarded George Augustus!

Sophia Dorothea grimaced. He was her brother and she had some affection for him, but he was very conceited and he would be like his father in some ways in his attitude towards a wife. I am the master; you are the slave.

That would not please me, she thought. And Caroline? How would she react?

It was not easy to know with Caroline. That was what made her so interesting. So far she had been docile and the more docile she became the more devoted was George Augustus. But once let her show defiance and that would be the end of George Augustus's affection. He might even be as callous towards a wife as his father had been.

Life with Frederick William would be different. She was certain of that. They had learned a good deal about each other on the few occasions when they had met because they had been drawn together irresistibly. He was wild and ungovernable; and she was not the one to accept the role of patient Griselda. No, there would be quarrels and reconciliations. But life would never be dull.

In a rush of pity for her poor sister-in-law Sophia Dorothea went along to Caroline's apartment where Caroline was being dressed for her soiree.

Sophia Dorothea watched her women at work.

'*You have lovely hair, sister," said Sophia Dorothea.

Caroline smiled, pleased at the compliment.

"And the blue gown is becoming."

"You are kind to say so."

How could she be so serene, so grave, so outwardly contented when she was far too intelligent not to know that she had been sent into a den of ... Sophia Dorothea paused for the word. Lions? George Augustus was not strong enough nor dignified enough. Foxes? Not cunning enough. Wolves? Yes, wolves wasn't bad.

"You are thoughtful," said Caroline.

"Have you finished?" Sophia Dorothea asked the woman. "I want to talk to Her Highness."

"Yes, in a moment. Your Highness."

Sophia Dorothea sat in a high backed chair watching the finishing touches to Caroline's toilet. I think George Augustus would be every bit as cruel as our father, she thought, if his vanity were wounded. That's it. His vanity! Ever since he knew he would not be very tall he has felt the need to remind everyone that he is as good, as strong, as important as people who are. How cruel life is! To deny George Augustus those inches as well as a mother. And poor Caroline will have to suffer for it too.

The woman had gone and Caroline said: "It is kind of you to come and see me."

"You're my sister now and I shan't have many more opportunities of calling on you like this."

"Are you uneasy about your coming marriage?"

"No. Only waiting to leave Hanover for Prussia."

"Then I'm glad."

"I'm fortunate. If I had loved my home I shouldn't want to leave it. But because I can't wait to get out of it, I'm happy. There's life for you. Taking away with one hand and giving with the other. I hope you will be happy here, Caroline."

"I think so."

"/ think you have a great gift for being happy. How do you do it? I may need to know when I'm quarrelling with my wild Frederick William."

"Then you are a little uneasy about going to Berlin?"

She shook her head. "Fll deal with Frederick William. You and I should have a good deal to say to each other for while you have come into my old home, I am going into yours."

"Berlin will be quite different from when I was there. Nothing could ever be the same now that Sophia Charlotte is dead."

"No, I suppose not. You loved my aunt very dearly, didn't you?"

Caroline nodded, her eyes clouding. "But I've stopped grieving for those happy days. I'm trying to look ahead. That is the advice she would have given. It is always rather difficult adjusting oneself to a new life ... a new home. Women of our rank invariably have to face it. I am fortunate in having the Elec-tress Sophia who is already my friend as well as my grand-mother-in-law."

"George Augustus does not like to be crossed," said Sophia Dorothea.

"Who does?" answered Caroline with a sinking heart, for she recognized the warning in her sister-in-law's voice.

"He more than most. He so very much wants to be ... appreciated."

"I understand." Caroline changed the subject abruptly; she did not want George Augustus to discover that she discussed him with anyone. Whatever her opinion of her husband, she knew she must keep it to herself. "Tell me about Madam Schulemburg and Madam Kielmansegge. It has been suggested that I should invite them to my soiree. I have no intention of doing so."

"Oh, they are my father's mistresses."

"What sort of women are they?"

"The Schulemburg is very tall. She is quite ugly now but was a beauty in her youth. Since she had the smallpox she lost most of her hair, her skin is pockmarked, and she's a real scarecrow. Particularly now that she's so thin—and looks thinner because she is so tall. She is as pale as a ghost under all her rouge which looks dreadful over the pock marks; and the red wig she wears makes her look worse than ever. But she has been there for so long that no one notices her. She has been my father's mistress for years and she's still the favourite. He doesn't seem to notice

how ugly she is ... or perhaps he doesn't think so. He has no sense of beauty."

"I meant rather what sort of woman is she."

"Oh ... stupid. Quite stupid. But that's in her favour. She never argues. That to my father means more than silken locks and peach-like complexion. Lips are fascinating to him not because they are luscious but because they keep silent."

"You think that she has kept her hold on your father because she never disagrees with him?"

Sophia Dorothea nodded. "Her stupidity is one of her main attractions."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Of course. Some men like to feel superior. My father doesn't consciously feel superior. He's merely convinced he is. If anyone disagreed with him he would think they were stupid. Some are different. They have to be continually reminded of their superiority because they doubt it. They perhaps are the more dangerous ones."

"I see what you mean," said Caroline slowly; and then more briskly: "Tell me more about Schulemburg."

She came to the court when she was a young girl and was introduced to my father by the Countess von Platen—not the present one ... the wife of the elder Count von Platen. She was my grandfather's mistress and she ruled the Court."

"Then your grandfather did not share this love for stupid women."

"No. He was different. But even he liked them to be clever enough to know when to keep quiet and was as determined to have his own way as my father is. Only he was gallant and witty whereas my father..." Sophia Dorothea shrugged her shoulders. "To get back to Schulemburg: Countess von Platen was in love with Konigsmarck who was my mother's lover so she hated my mother. She advised Schulemburg how to keep my father's favour and my mother quarrelled with him over the creature. He wouldn't have interference from his wife any more than he would tolerate her having a lover. You see how unfair it is for us women?"

Caroline nodded.

"Well Schulemburg suited my father. She's really fond of

him and he of her—as much as he could be of anyone. When my mother was sent away Schulemburg was treated like his wife. But she never argued; she never quarrelled; she never criticized him even when he took another mistress, but was always waiting gratefully when he came back to her. That is what the Hanoverians expect of women."

Caroline's eyes narrowed. "So she kept her place all those years. It must be nearly twenty. And although she is no longer beautiful she still keeps her place. It is quite an achievement."

"To succeed through stupidity! "

*'But not so stupid."

"Oh it's not by design. That would be clever. No Schulemburg is as she is because nature made her that way."

"And the other ... Kielmansegge?"

"Ah, she is a different kind altogether."

"Yet she keeps her hold too."

"Yes. It must be because my father is too lazy to change. But you could scarcely call him lazy. No. It is habit, perhaps; and the conviction that all women are more or less the same and the only ones who are disagreeable to him are those who voice opinions. Kielmansegge is as ugly in her way as Schulemburg is in hers. She's the daughter of the Count von Platen. You see how useful that family is. Schulemburg introduced by Platen; Kielmansegge the daughter of Platen; and the Countess von Platen, the latest addition to the seraglio, the daughter-in-law of the Platens. Kielmansegge could well be my father's sister. In fact it is more than likely. My grandfather was Clara von Platen's lover over many years, and as her husband was the complaisant kind—he did very well through it as you know—it is more than possible that the children he accepted as his were other people's."

"And she is not in such favour as Schulemburg."

"There is very little in it. She is not so docile ... at least when my father is not about. Schulemburg is completely faithful to my father and always has been. No breath of scandal attaches to our tall malkin; it's a very different matter with Kielmansegge. She is like her mother. The sight of any personable man makes her eyes glisten. She doesn't see why she should reserve herself for my father, particularly when she has

to share his favours with others. I doubt whether he could satisfy her if she was the only one. She is as ugly as Schulera-burg—only her wig is black instead of red but it's as unbecoming. She's as fat as Schulemburg is thin; and her complexion is so ruddy that she has to tone it down with white powder which is every bit as unbecoming as Schulemburg's rouge."

"I see that your father likes variety. These two are exact opposites."

"Perhaps you are right. Then there is the young Countess von Platen, a most conventional mistress, being young and beautiful. And while she is not entirely faithful like Schulemburg and not as promiscuous as Kielmansegge she is not averse to take a lover now and then."

"I begin to understand," said Caroline. "The Elector has tried to have all women represented in those three. It is what I would have expected of such an orderly mind."

"I think you admire him a little."

"He is a good ruler and I am sorry there is such enmity between him and George Augustus. I should like to change that and make them friends."

Sophia Dorothea shook her head.

"You're beginning to understand them. No one has ever been able to teach them anything. My giandmother gave up long ago and she is a wise woman."

"I shall not receive those three women at my soiree. I believe that that will please George Augustus. In fact I know it will. I think perhaps the Elector would realize then how much happier everyone wotild be if he showed a little kindness to your mother. I don't suggest that she should come back to Hanover. That would be too painful for everyone. But I do think that if he would allow George Augustus and you to see your mother, everyone would be happier and the dreadful enmity in the family might come to an end."

"You are a reformer, Caroline."

"That amuses you."

"In a way because I don't think you know us here very well. But you will learn." Sophia Dorothea stood up. "I keep you from your duties. But I have enjoyed our talk. We must make the most of our opportunities before I leave for Prussia. There

I shall have to concern myself with my own problems. Ugh I Settling ourselves into new homes, is a delicate business. I suppose all wise princesses should remember my mother. Perhaps if she had her chance over again she would behave differently. Who wouldn't? I daresay like me you would accept a great deal rather than be a prisoner in a lonely castle for years and years?"

There was no doubt about it. Sophia Dorothea was warning her sister-in-law.

Caroline looked startled. Coming towards her was the Elector; his expression was cold, his mouth grim. Behind him walked tw^o of the ugliest women Caroline had ever seen. They were like grotesque creatures from some fantastic play, one being so tall and thin, the other short and fat. And with them was the young and beautiful Countess von Platen.

The Elector stood before her.

**I present to you Madam von Schulemburg, Madam Kiel-mansegge and the Countess von Platen "

Caroline hesitated. She could say that she had not invited them. And if she did?

She looked into the cold cruel face of the Elector, and saw the determination there.

The Electress Sophia who was beside her spoke suddenly: "Now is your opportunity to meet these ladies. I know it has for some time been your desire to do so.'*

Warnings all about her. From the Electress, from her sister-in-law, from the sad prisoner of Ahlden, this band of women who knew what could happen to one of them if they did not accept the right of men to use them, to insult them, to humiliate them.

But there are other ways, thought Caroline as graciously she extended her hand to the tall woman with the raddled skin who came forward.

"It gives me pleasure to see you here," she said coldly.

But the Elector was satisfied. The first hint of rebellion had been quashed.

The English were beginning to arrive at Hanover in large numbers. The passing of the act of Succession naming the Elec-tress Sophia as the heir to the throne should Queen Anne fail to produce a child had sent many, whose popularity at home was not great, scurrying to Hanover to ingratiate themselves with the Queen's possible successor.

The Electress Sophia seemed to have become younger. She was an old woman, older tlian Queen Anne, but the latter had been sickly for years and Sophia did not believe she could outlive her now. If this were so she would have the infinite pleasure of visiting a country which she considered the greatest in the world, and going as its Queen.

Such a prospect was rejuvenating in the extreme. She received the visitors from England with great honour and she entertained them as lavishly as she could and did her utmost to make George Lewis do the same.

Her son however was not so enamoured of the English project as she was. There was no place on earth to compare with Hanover as far as he was concerned and he preferred Germans to English.

What would they think of him? Sophia asked herself. They would take home reports of this crude boor, and the English would ask themselves whether they were wise to pass over the Catholic Stuart for the sake of such a man, Protestant though he was—for Sophia had to face the fact that she was an old woman and there could not be many more years left to her and when she died who was left to be King of England other than George Lewis?

Among those who came to Hanover was the famous Duke of Marlborough. George Lewis received him with pleasure, for although the Duke was a charming handsome man with impeccable manners and some gallantry, the greatest interest to them both was soldiering; and they could discuss the war and future campaigns together to their mutual benefit and pleasure. Each year a Hanoverian army left for Flanders; and often George Lewis w^as with it. Marlborough had had a great respect for him ever since when quite a young man George Lewis had distinguished himself in the field.

George Augustus longed for military glory. He had repeat-

edly begged his father to allow him to go to the wars but always he had been met with a refusal.

But the sight of Marlborough there in all his military glory and everyone talking about his successes and repeating the legend that he was unbeatable in the field, that the enemy knew it and lost heart before the battle had begun, George Augustus's desire for equal fame was more than he could endure.

He went to his father and cried out: "Why ... why can't I be a soldier?"

George Lewis turned away in disgust. "Get a son," he said. "Then you shall go."

Get a son. He had been married for some months and there was no sign.

He went to Caroline and told her that they must get a son because he wanted to go to war and his father would never allow him to until their son was born.

"I hope," he said crossly, "that you are not going to be one of those women who can't get children."

She was serene outwardly but inwardly the anxious qualms were troubling her.

It was an unfair world where an intelligent woman must accept the supremacy and domination of her intellectual inferior simply because he was a man and she a woman.

There was always the Empress Sophia to offer her comfort. They walked in the gardens of Herrenhausen together among the statues, clumsy German replicas of French artistry, beside the water works which were faithful copies of those at Marley and Versailles.

"You were wise to receive my son's women," she told Caroline.

"I confess I almost refused."

"It would have been a great mistake to have done so. My son would never have forgiven you and he is a vindictive man."

"Yes, I know that."

Sophia shook her head. "When I go to England, you and George Augustus will come with me. George Lewis will have to

also. We shall have a better life there, a more cultured life. I can assure you the Court of St. James's will be a little different from this of Hanover."

"But if the Elector is the Prince of Wales he will doubtless introduce something of Hanover into England."

Sophia shivered. "I shall prevent that for I shall be the Queen."

Caroline had never before seen her so enraptured. She was a different person from the sober serene woman she had known, and it was clear that she could think of little else but the prospect of going to England.

"George Augustus is eager to be a soldier."

"He will in time."

"Not until we have a son."

Sophia turned her gaze on Caroline. "You are anxious about that? You must not be. It is early days yet."

"George Augustus seems to think I am a little tardy in giving him his heart's desire."

"Poor George Augustus!" sighed Sophia. "I am sorry my grandson is such a fool. But you my dear have intelligence enough for both. You must make good use of it. You did right about my son's women. Don't try to figlu what can't be fought. And don't worry about not becoming pregnant; it's the worst thing in the world. You are far less likely to conceive if you worry about it. I am sure you will soon be telling me you are pregnant and the joy bells will be ringing in Hanover. I shall be delighted to hear them ... unless I should be in England by then."

Oh yes, her thoughts were far away in England.

"I want to see Sophia Dorothea settled before I leave. I do hope there will be no delay. It will be pleasant to think of her with my dearest Sophia Charlotte's son. I'm sure she would have been delighted. It was a dream of hers that you should come here, Caroline."

But, thought Caroline, not that I should have to subject myself to the whims of a mentally retarded boy.

"Now I want you to come with me and talk to Mr. Howe, the English Envoy. He will tell us about England. It's a pity your English is not better my dear. You have such a Ger-

man accent and you are far from fluent. We shall have to speak in German, and Mr. Howe would far rather speak in English."

Caroline felt alone. The Electress Sophia, whom she had regarded as a bulwark was now inclining away from her—so wrapped up was she in her own glorious future as Queen of England.

The Electress had to take her mind from England to celebrate the marriage of Sophia Dorothea to the Crown Prince of Prussia. As both bride and groom were her grandchildren she was quite delighted with the match; and she was certain that the pretty, not exactly clever, but spirited Sophia Dorothea would be a match for the rather violent Frederick William. In any case they were both eager for marriage and there had been no reluctant tears from the bride, no protests from the groom. In fact their eagerness was the reason why they were being married at such an early age.

Frederick William was nearly five years younger than George Augustus but he seemed more mature in many ways. They disliked each other intensely so it was fortunate that the newly married couple would not live at Hanover to add to family strife.

In spite of her friendship with Sophia Dorothea Caroline was glad when the celebrations were at an end and the young couple left Hanover. George Augustus's jealousy of his cousin was painful to watch.

She fancied she had grown a little closer to her husband through her friendship with his maternal grandmother the Duchess of Celle, the Frenchwoman who still showed signs of great beauty and who at the end of her life was so sad. The Duchess mourned her husband deeply, even though the last years of the marriage had been soured by the Duke's siding with Hanover for state reasons while the Duchess had one motive in her life which was the care of her daughter. The Duchess would never forgive her son-in-law for what he had done to her daughter. She it was who visited Ahlden regularly, who took accounts of her children's lives to their mother. She

would tell of the marriage of the young Sophia Dorothea, of Caroline the wife of her son.

Caroline was attracted by the Duchess, a woman of great culture and charm, as clever as the Electress and far more beautiful. And Caroline knew her friendship towards Sophia was weakening because of that she immediately felt towards the Duchess. The Duke of Celle had refused to marry Sophia, had given up lands and titles rather than do so; and that was something, even so many years later, that Sophia found hard to forgive. Particularly when he fell so deeply in love with the woman he married and with whom he remained deeply in love, until the marriage of their daughter brought such bitterness into their lives. Sophia had hated the Duchess of Celle with a vindictiveness which appalled Caroline; and after that she did not feel so friendly towards the old woman. Moreover Sophia's preoccupation with the English had already driven a rift between them and a coldness had sprung up, which a few months before would not have seemed possible.

George Augustus was delighted with Caroline's friendship towards his mother's mother. At the same time he was doing his best to please the English visitors. It was a natural instinct to go against everything that his father stood for.

It was a great relief when Caroline realized that George Lewis was indifferent to her friendship with the Duchess of Celle. She supposed it was because he thought the Duchess too insignificant to be of importance. If she attempted to see the prisoner she would be sternly reprimanded, but of course she would do no such thing. She was learning how to be a Hanoverian wife, outwardly docile. But there was something they did not understand: inwardly she was in revolt.

Domestic storms could blow up quickly in Hanover. Violently and suddenly they arose out of the most insignificant incidents.

George Augustus marched into his wife's apartments, his face red and puffed, his eyes watering with emotion.

*'Have you heard the news?" he demanded.

Alarmed she asked what catastrophe had happened.

"That puppy Frederick William is going to the Netherlands."

**Oh?" said Caroline surprised.

"Don't stand there saying Oh. Can't you see what this means! He's going with the armies. He's going to fight. His father has not stopped him. He doesn't have to get a son before he goes. He's five years younger than I and yet I'm kept out and he's allowed to go! "

"Your time will come..." began Caroline soothingly.

"Yes, when you have given me a son. When will that be? What signs are there? Do you think you're barren? God knows you ought to have shown signs by now. And my father is laughing at me with those scarecrows of his. George Augustus ... married to a barren wife ... we'll keep him at Hanover till he's too old to make a soldier."

"George Augustus, this is absurd."

"Absurd, is it? I tell you he's gone. Gone to win honours on the battlefield. And they're laughing at me because I'm not allowed to be a soldier ... because I can't get a son. They're jeering at me ... me ... the Prince. And all because you are barren. If I'd known it..."

He stopped and looked at her. He hadn't meant to say that. He was proud of her. She was beautiful. She had never really crossed him ... she never showed off as he called it, after that one attempt when he had made her understand that he didn't like it.

But he was angry. He was too unsure of himself to accept the fact that he could occasionally be wrong. He always had to be in the right, always the injured party. If his father would not let him go to war that was because his father was jealous of the honours he might win. If he was not yet a father that was Caroline's fault.

He picked up his wig and throwing it on the floor stamped on it; then kicked it round the room. It was a favourite outlet for outraged feelings; and after that display of physical violence he felt a little better.

He took up his wig, slammed it on his head and walked out.

He would show them whose fault it was that he had no son.

Caroline aid n^rl^e l^h' liSil. nigiif. The next day she

learned that her husband had a mistress. Such news travelled fast in Hanover.

If only Sophia Charlotte were here, she would have advised her what to do. Life was so disappointing, so unfulfilled. How she longed for Liitzenburg, and intelligent conversation beneath the trees!

What was life at Hanover? There was no culture. Leibniz was still with them but he despaired of bringing distinguished scholars to the court, and even the Electress was no longer interested in philosophical discussion now she had one aim in life—to gain the crown of England before she died.

And here was Caroline—young, beautiful, vital and above all clever, doomed to be the typical German wife, to remain silent when her husband spoke, to accept his word as law– even though he had the mind of a boy of fourteen and the manners and control of one younger—to be humble, docile, suppressing all desires but to be a good wife and bear many children.

No! said Caroline.

But what was the use of rebelling when one was in a Hanoverian prison? There was at least a pretence of freedom here which was more than there was at Ahlden.

There were times when she felt she could give way to despair but in her heart she knew that because she had a more alert mind, a deeper power of concentration, because she had considerable more knowledge than her husband, there must be a way of eluding his domination. She was certain that in time she would find it. And until she did she must allow him to believe that she was the wife he wanted her to be. That was the way she would always have to live. She would always have to let him believe that he was the master. There was no harm in playing a game of pretence so long as in reality she was in command of her own destiny.

And she would be.

It was with great joy that Caroline was able to announce that she was pregnant.

George Augustus came to her in a mood of contrition. He had been angry, he explained. Not with her, of course, but with his father. It was always his father.

"He frustrates me, Caroline. He does everything he knows to annoy me. I shall never be happy until he's dead."

Caroline told him he must not say such things; as for that other matter, since it was over they would say no more about it.

He fell upon her embracing her. She was the best wife in the world. It should never happen again. And now they would have their son. His clever beautiful Caroline had at last become pregnant. He would have a son and she should have a husband whose military exploits were the wonder of the world.

Once I have a child, thought Caroline, that child's interests will be the centre of my life. Then I shall not care that I have an adolescent boy for a husband.

"The Crown Prince and his wife are reconciled," said the Court. "There was never a more devoted husband. Why he is with her every minute of the day. She will grow weary of his company."

If she found his company a little tiring she was pleased to have it. It was a triumph for that policy which the Electress Sophia had used to her advantage.