Текст книги "Caroline the Queen"

Автор книги: Виктория Холт

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 21 (всего у книги 24 страниц)

The Prince’s Bride

THE Prince of Wales was the only member of the Court and royal family who escaped the King’s bad temper. George’s attitude to his son had not changed since his return from Hanover because he had ignored him before he went away and continued to ignore him.

Frederick was delighted that he was to marry. He had always believed that marriage would give him the status he needed, and as he was nearly thirty it seemed ridiculous that a man in his position should be denied a wife.

He was becoming more and more truculent. In the old days he had been a mild young man, intent only on pleasure; but his relationship with Bolingbroke and Chesterfield had changed that.

Bolingbroke had now left England. He had given up the fight. He had hoped for a time to oust Walpole from his position and take his place, but it had become increasingly obvious that this was something he could not do. Lady Suffolk had been his friend and had kept him informed of certain happenings at Court, and now she had retired another avenue had been cut off. Bolingbroke had always spent a great deal of time with writers; he had enjoyed their company and patronized many of them by allowing them to earn a living writing for him. Now he believed that there was nothing in England for him, so he decided to retire to France where he owned Chanteloup, a beautiful  château in Touraine. Here he said he would devote himself to literature, for his part on the stage of English politics was over and the man who remained on the stage after that deserved to be hissed off.

So to France he had gone and the Prince felt his loss, but he decided that he was able to manage his own affairs; and now that he was to have a wife he would do what Bolingbroke had told him he should : demand that he be paid an income commensurate not only with his title of Prince of Wales, but as a husband.

He was delighted at the prospect of a young bride. He greatly admired Lady Archibald Hamilton who was a very different mistress from Anne Vane; but he felt that if he had a pretty young girl as a wife and a handsome, clever woman as a mistress he would be very well served.

He had been very willing to promise Lady Archibald Hamilton a place in his wife’s entourage. She should be a lady of the bedchamber, he told her, and there be able to guide the Princess in all that she should know.

Lady Archibald expressed herself willing to take on this responsibility; and she was clearly delighted that the Prince should offer it.

Caroline, hearing of the arrangement, asked her son to come and see her, and when he came she immediately brought up the subject.

‘You cannot allow your mistress to be one of your wife’s bedchamber women. It will not be fair to the Princess Augusta.’

‘It will be ideal for her,’ retorted the Prince. ‘Lady Archibald Hamilton will be a ...’

‘A mother to her?’ asked the Queen slyly.

She will be a good friend to her.’

‘I doubt whether your wife will want the friendship of your mistress.’

She is to be one of the ladies-in-waiting. I have arranged it.’

‘I do not think the King will allow it.’ ‘This is my wife’s household.’

‘This is the King’s Court.’

‘And if I appoint her, what do you propose to do about it?’

‘The King could dismiss her. He could even retire the lady from Court.’

The Prince was startled. He had powerful enemies, Chesterfield had told him that. Walpole was his enemy and Walpole had great power. One never knew what that man would do if he and the King and Queen put their heads together.

‘You think to use me as you will,’ he mumbled. ‘I wish you would speak up,’ said the Queen.

‘There is the matter of my allowance,’ he began.

She looked astonished and replied: ‘I thought we were discussing your wife’s household. But let me tell you this: If the King is displeased with that you will never get an increased allowance.’

The Prince bit his lip in rage.

‘I have promised Lady Archibald Hamilton ...’

The Queen interrupted, ‘Your wife will have four main ladies-in-waiting. I suggest that the three appointments which have been put forward and which do not include the lady in question be granted; let the other remain open and when the Princess arrives, if you can persuade her that Lady Archibald Hamilton is the best possible choice then let the lady have the post. But I am sure you will agree that in such circumstances it is your wife who should decide.’

The Prince hesitated. This was a way out. He would have to explain to Lady Archibald who would readily understand; and when Augusta came—young Augusta who was only a girl—he would quickly make her do what he wanted her to. The position was safe for his mistress.

‘Then that matter is settled,’ said the Queen; and he did not deny it, for at that moment the King came into the Queen’s drawing room and gave the Prince his now familiar stare which Lord Hervey had said made one feel the Prince was a ghost invisible to the King.

‘Why are you not wearing your cloak,’ said the King to the Queen. ‘We shall be two minutes late for our walk.’

* * *

Sir Robert came to see the Queen and he was very grave. ‘I have just made an alarming discovery,’ he said. ‘The King has promised to return to Hanover in May.’

‘You mean he has promised Madame de Walmoden.’

‘That is so. She has given birth to a boy which she will assure the King is his.’

‘And you have reason to doubt that it is his?’

‘Two reasons and many grave doubts.’

‘I know the lady has a husband.’

‘And His Majesty is not her only lover, although of course she deludes him into thinking he is.’

‘I fear he is easily deluded.’

‘As we have found to our advantage in the past, Madam. But we are not in the past now, and we have the future to consider.’

‘What do you propose?’

‘To use every means at my disposal to prevent the King’s going to Hanover.’

‘And if he is determined?’

Sir Robert lifted his shoulders. ‘Who can say?’

‘He went before, when you and Parliament wished him to stay.’

‘But you wished him to go and so were against us on that occasion.’

‘There are often times when I wish he had stayed there.’ ‘Oh, he will continue to be trying while this passion for that far-off lady obsesses him.’

‘Is there no way of breaking that spell?’

‘Lady Deloraine is a very pretty woman and he does show interest.’

‘But I still think he yearns for Hanover.’

‘We must stop his going, for the longer he stays away from her the more likely he is to forget her.’

‘He could not leave when the Prince will shortly be married.’

‘No. If we can arrange that marriage for June he will certainly not go in May.’

‘There seems to be some fixed idea in his mind that he must go in May.’

‘Then we will have the Prince’s marriage after May.’ Sir Robert smiled slyly and Caroline wondered if he had instructed Lord Delaware, who had been sent to Saxe-Gotha to negotiate for the Princess Augusta, not to hurry the matter.

* * *

The King was growing angry. The beginning of April and still negotiations hung fire His temper grew sharper than ever, and everyone felt the brunt of it, but more especially the Queen.

If Lady Suffolk had still retained her old position it would have eased matters, for he would have been spending that evening session with her which he now spent with the Queen. Lucky Lady Suffolk, peaceful in the country with old George Berkeley who, although he might not be handsome or rich, was devoted to her and determined to make her retirement happy. How she would have suffered if she had been at the Court at this time! As much as I do, thought the Queen. But she is not here, lucky woman, and I must bear the full brunt.

He would join her in her drawing room at nine o’clock exactly when her children were with her; and she always managed to have her Chamberlain in attendance, for what she would have done without dear Lord Hervey at this time she could not say.

She would sit knotting—anything to employ her fingers—waiting for the time to pass while George would sit scowling as he contemplated his dislike of all things English, or smiling now and then as his thoughts flitted to Hanover and the delectable Madame de Walmoden. His silences were preferable to his outbursts, but alas they were not usually of very long duration. And after half an hour or so he would usually leave them to retire to his own apartments to write to Madame de Walmoden. Caroline imagined those letters; he would tell her every detail. He was a great letter-writer as she always knew from those times when he was away from her.

She was tired because that day she had been visiting the house of one of the noblemen of the Court. She knew how these visits were appreciated not only by the mistress and master of the house, but by the servants to whom she was always gracious. She looked upon them as a duty and an extremely enjoyable one.

While the King sat smiling dreamily into the past, she mentioned to Lord Hervey that she was visiting again tomorrow, and she would need money as she had given away all she had to the servants at the house she visited on this day.

‘They were so delighted,’ she said, ‘when I complimented them on my excellent dinner; and it was a great pleasure to see the new pictures they have. Their picturure gallery is one of the finest I have seen. I told them that you would doubtless be very interested. You will shortly receive an invitation.’

Lord Hervey replied that he had heard of that collection and he was waiting for the opportunity to inspect it.

The King did not appear to be listening and the Queen said with a laugh, ‘I have just been looking at  The Craftsman. Did you see, my lord, that they have attacked me for making Merlin’s Cave? They must be short of scandal to turn their attention to that.’

The King came out of his pleasant reverie and seemed angry to find himself in a less rosy world.

‘I am very glad to hear it,’ he said. ‘You deserve to be abused for such childish, silly stuff. It’s the first time I’ve ever known that scoundrelly  Craftsman right.’

There was silence; the Princess Caroline looked as though she were about to burst into tears, the Princess Amelia merely scornful, while the Duke of Cumberland stared at the tips of his shoes in embarrassment.

‘I mean it,’ shouted the King. ‘What a silly idea! What figures? What next. And books ...! Who wants books? I am surprised Walpole advanced the money for such folly.’

‘The people enjoy it, sir,’ said Lord Hervey, who always made a point of coming to the Queen’s rescue, particularly as he realized that the King did not object to this. It was a strange thing, but through all his criticism of the Queen, George’s fondness for her was apparent. His snubbing her came from his familiarity; and when she was looking tired he grew more angry than ever, perhaps because secretly in his heart he was worried on account of her health. Much as he longed to be in Hanover with his mistress, he wanted to think of Caroline, his wife, in her place waiting for him, never changing towards him no matter how badly he behaved. And Lord Hervey with his peculiar perception was aware of this; and although his own motives were mixed and were born of a genuine affection for the Queen he was always conscious that in protecting her in her skirmishes with the King he did no harm to himself.

‘A lot of fools playing childish silly games with a lot of silly waxworks ... and books. Books!’ He spat out the word as though it described objects of the utmost contempt. The Queen went on knotting quickly. There were tears in her eyes, which was unusual, but she felt tired and ill and the pain was nagging and she thought: I’m so tired of this. Let him go back to Hanover ... anywhere, but out of my life.

The King saw her lowered head and construed this as indifference, so he went on : ‘And giving money to servants when you visit. What silly, childish games!’

The Queen murmured quietly but defiantly that it had always been the custom to reward servants when one visited their employers’ houses. ‘Is that not so, my lord?’ she asked Lord Hervey.

‘It is true, Your Majesty,’ said Lord Hervey. ‘It has always been the custom for the King or the Queen to distribute such largesse. It is expected and would be noticed with great disfavour if it were not done.’

‘Then the Queen should stay at home as I do. You don’t see me running into every puppy’s house to see his chairs and stools. I stay at home. Nor is it for you, Madam, to be running your nose everywhere and trotting about the town to every fellow that will give you some bread and butter, like an old girl that loves to go abroad no matter whether it be proper or not.’

Continuing to knot, the Queen made no answer, but her fingers faltered and the thread became tangled and her efforts to untangle it were fruitless. She held it nearer the candle and in doing so snuffed out one of them.

‘Why must you be so awkward?’ demanded the King. ‘Why can’t you sit quietly as I do. Why must you always be doing that silly, childish stuff....’

He rose suddenly and stumped out of the room. It was ten minutes before his usual time to retire. A bad sign when he began breaking habits.

Caroline knew where he had gone.

It was to his own apartments to write a long sixty-page letter to Madame de Walmoden, telling how he longed to be in Hanover and that he would soon be there in spite of them all.

* * *

‘Sir,’ said Walpole, ‘you cannot go to Hanover until after the marriage of the Prince of Wales.’

‘Well, where is this bride of his? Why is her coming postponed?’

‘In a matter of this sort negotiations always take a little time, Your Majesty.’

‘A little time! I tell you I have made up my mind to go to Hanover in May and nothing ...  nothing is going to stop me.’

‘But the Prince of Wales’s marriage, sir ...’

‘I don’t care about the Prince of Wales’s marriage. He can go without a marriage. He can have a marriage without me. But I am going to Hanover in May. And you may try to stop me, but you won’t succeed.’

Walpole saw that the King was a man bemused. There was no point in delaying tactics. In fact they must be hurried on, for clearly the King would become more unpopular than ever if he could not attend his son’s marriage because he had gone off to visit his mistress.

On the 25th of April, the Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha arrived at Greenwich. She was seventeen, very shy, and could not speak a word of English.

The royal family behaved towards her as it had to the Prince of Orange and ignored her coming. The Prince of Wales, however, went to Greenwich to meet her.

When she saw Frederick she was delighted for he exerted all his charm. He was very pleased, first because he had wanted a wife for so long and secondly because she was so young and clearly in awe of him. It was so rarely that anyone was in awe of Frederick that he appreciated this very much.

The young girl had stayed the night in Greenwich Palace and here she first saw Frederick.

He took her hands and kissed her warmly. His German was fluent and she told him that she was delighted because she was a little frightened to be among all these foreigners; but Frederick did not seem like a foreigner : when he spoke he seemed as German as she was.

Frederick said he would teach her to be English and she need have no fear of anything while he was there to protect her.

Her eyes were wide with admiration and it was very clear to all the observers that the young couple were pleased with each other.

He was not tall, but his expression was charming and he only looked sullen when he was not smiling, and he had many smiles for her; his eyes were a startling blue and his complexion fresh. She thought him very handsome although he was smaller than she was.

She had the charm of youth, and although she was tall and slender she moved rather awkwardly, never having been taught deportment, but this  gaucherie pleased Frederick. He did not want a poised and too beautiful young bride.

That was a very happy meeting and Frederick told her that the royal coach would take them to Lambeth and then they would sail down to Whitehall by barge which would give her an opportunity of seeing the city of London.

She clasped her hands and said that she thought what she had seen of England was wonderful, so different from everything at home. All the people were so sumptuously dressed, and she was going to enjoy so much learning to know England and to understand the English, but just at first she was a little frightened.

There was nothing to fear, said Frederick. She would have the Prince of Wales to protect her.

* * *

The King was waiting in the drawing room at St James’s Palace to greet his prospective daughter-in-law.

He was slightly mollified because it was only April and she was here and he would be able to leave for Hanover without upsetting people by not staying for his son’s wedding.

The Queen stood beside him—a little drawn though smiling perhaps too affably, too joyously. Lord Hervey was close to her and so was Lady Sundon, both watchful, both guessing how weary the Queen was, and Lady Sundon knowing of the pain and its cause.

The King’s good temper was rapidly disappearing, because the Prince and Princess were late.

He looked at his watch. They should have been here half an hour ago!

He said: ‘The King and the Court have been waiting for half an hour and still the Prince has not brought his bride.’

‘The river is crowded today, Your Majesty,’ volunteered the Duke of Grafton. ‘No doubt their barge is being impeded.’

‘Time is time, Grafton, craft or no craft, and I do not like impudent puppies who keep me waiting.’

It seemed as though the bride would be greeted with scowls and reproaches as the time went on, and still the couple did not arrive.

Each minute increased the King’s anger, and when news was brought that the barge had reached Whitehall and the Princess was being carried across St James’s Park in a Sedan, he was almost on the point of retiring to his own apartments.

They could hear the cheers of the people as the Prince and his bride in their Sedans came nearer. The King remained grimly silent; and he did not speak until the Prince led in his bride.

It was not without grace that Frederick presented his shy bride to his parents.

And because she had the charm of youth and because she was so much in awe of him, the King’s anger disappeared.

Augusta dropped the deepest curtsey the King and Queen had ever seen and remained kneeling until George said in a soft and kindly voice : ‘You may rise, my dear. Let us look at you. Why, I think the Prince is most fortunate. Welcome to England, my dear.’

Augusta blushed and looked very pleased; so that in spite of the fact that she had arrived an hour late, this was forgotten and the first meeting was a success.

There was no point in waiting for the wedding. Indeed in the King’s opinion, there was every need that the ceremony should take place without delay, for once it was over he would start making preparations to leave for Hanover and no one was going to stop him.

The Princess looked very attractive in her gown of crimson velvet with its rows of ermine, wearing a crown with one bar, set with diamonds. She was led in the procession to the chapel by her young brother-in-law-to-be, William, Duke of Cumberland, with the Duke of Grafton and Lord Hervey in attendance with the ladies of her household; and the Bishop of London performed the ceremony.

Afterwards at supper, the Prince of Wales sat on the King’s right hand with his brother William, and on the Queen’s left hand sat the Princess of Wales and her sisters-in-law, the four Princesses.

The Queen spoke very kindly to the bride and found her so modest that she could not help liking her, but, as she said afterwards to Lord Hervey, she feared she was a little stupid and that her mother was to be blamed for not giving her a better education. ‘Nevertheless,’ she added, ‘I daresay she will suit Fred the better for that.’

Then of course there followed that ceremony of undressing the bride which was done by the four Princesses, and she was put to bed to await the coming of the Prince who eventually appeared in a cloth of silver nightgown and nightcap of fine lace.

Ministers and courtiers walked through the bedchamber to see the young couple in bed; and in spite of her awkwardness and shyness in company, the Princess of Wales seemed not in the least disturbed, for already her husband seemed to have inspired her with confidence.

The King, in his wedding clothes of gold brocade, embroidered with large flowers in silver and pale colours, cut short the ceremony, and taking the Queen’s hand, gave the signal to retire and leave the young couple alone.

As they walked out the King commented on the costumes of Lord Hervey and the Duke of Grafton; he had noted the diamond buttons and was calculating that they must have cost somewhere in the region of three to five hundred pounds.

The Queen replied that it was fitting they should on such an occasion. ‘As long as,’ she added, ‘they do not outdo Your Majesty in their splendour, which it is clear they did not.’

In her own yellow silk trimmed with pearls and diamonds, with diamonds at her throat and on her hands, Caroline herself was a glittering figure and the King looked at her with approval. Her gown was low cut revealing that bosom which he had once called the most beautiful in the world.

But his satisfaction was short-lived.

‘No Englishman knows how to dress,’ he said. ‘I suppose it is because no English tailor knows how to make a suit.

‘You are comparing them with their Hanoverian counterparts,’ the Queen could not resist saying, and she added quickly to change the subject. ‘Perhaps now that he is married, Frederick will give us less trouble. She seems a pleasant creature, though dull, and I think she should suit him well.

‘They have dressed themselves up for this wedding as they never did for my birthday,’ grumbled the King.

But he was not seriously angry. He was thinking: The wedding is over. I shall be in Hanover for May as I promised.

* * *

The Duchess of Marlborough laughed at the marriage. ‘A Princess of where, pray? Saxe-Gotha? What  is Saxe-Gotha? Young Fred will regret the day he didn’t get Lady Di.’

And she jeered at the preparations and said that she had heard the bride was a nice little thing but stupid.

‘He’ll have his regrets before long!’

But Frederick was not regretting. Nor was his bride. They were greeted by cheering crowds wherever they went. The people liked them. Just wait, thought Frederick, until we have a son. Then the people will be all for the Prince of Wales. They’re tired of bad-tempered George, anyway.

He would get his hundred thousand a year. He was going to ask for it as soon as it was possible to do so. He would get his privileges. When the King went off to his mistress he, the Prince of Wales, would be the Regent.

Everything was going to be different now. And it was all due to his dear little Augusta who adored him and wanted to do everything to please me.

When he said to her that he knew just the lady to fill the vacant post among her ladies in waiting, she listened eagerly.

‘It’s Lady Archibald Hamilton,’ he said. ‘I will present her to you.’

‘Please do,’ cried Augusta. ‘Is she young?’

‘You would not call her so.... She is twice your age.’

Augusta clapped her hands with pleasure. ‘I was afraid she might be young and beautiful,’ she said.

There were some things she had learned evidently, thought Frederick.

And when Lady Archibald Hamilton was presented to her, Augusta thought her, although a little stern, a very gracious lady.

‘Lady Archibald Hamilton hopes for a post in your household,’ said Frederick. ‘I hope you will agree with me that no one could be more suitable.’

And of course Augusta agreed with her husband.