by Cheyenne
if she had married George would probably have been no friend to the Princess
Augusta.
All past history— but one could not help recalling it at times like these when
there was a wedding in the family. And so she had come here and been horrified
to see what a poor place the palace was and even more so when Charles had made
it clear that he had no intention of giving up his mistress because he had acquired a wife and that the latter was of no great importance in his life— although he
would endeavour to give her children— while the other woman remained
supreme—
What a position for a proud Princess to be forced into— and an English
Princess at that. But she had succumbed and done her duty and produced her sons
— two mentally-deficient, one blind, then her daughters and another boy— all of
whom seemed brilliant in comparison with their brothers.
At least I have my children, though I have no control over them, she thought fretfully. They take no notice of what I say, and it is all due to the fact that they know who really rules here with the Duke. One would have thought he might have become tired of her by now. But that would not do. Who knew what arrogant
upstart might take her place?
The Duke alas was a very sensual man and was not entirely faithful even to
Madame de Hertzfeldt; but of course none of his other peccadilloes were serious
or long lasting; and on more than one occasion she had reported them to her great rival in order that they could be brought to a hasty conclusion. She supposed that she accepted Madame de Hertzfeldt who was such an admirable woman in so
many ways, and while she took command of affairs she always openly paid the
correct respect to the Duchess.
So the Duchess must be content with her lot for she would have been far less
happy in England, she knew, living a life of dreary spinsterhood. She had realized that in February 1772 when she had gone back to England at the time of her
mother’s death; but for the fact that her mother had wished to see her and they
could not ignore her dying wish; Charlotte and George would have prevented her
coming. As it was they had given her a little house in Pall Mall instead of lodging her at one of the royal palaces.
She recalled her anger and how she had almost returned to Brunswick before
the funeral. It would seem that she was to be slighted everywhere.
How strange when she considered what a forceful young woman she had been
at home in England as the Princess Royal.
But Charles had changed her. From the moment she had realized he intended
to be master and had accepted her inability to prevent it, she had sunk meekly into her place, had borne his children— and the fact that the three boys were abnormal had perhaps contributed to her meekness accepted Madame de Hertzfeldt and
even allowed her children to have some respect for the woman.
Now she sighed and thought of Charlotte soon to leave her home for a new
life with a husband.
‘I pray,’ said the Duchess, ‘that she is more fortunate than I.’
————————
Charlotte was a dazzling bride, for she was very pretty.
‘When she has gone,’ Caroline told the Baroness, ‘I shall be the prettiest
princess at the Court because being the only princess I must be the prettiest.’
‘You occupy your mind with matters of no importance,’ she was reproved, at
which she retorted that her beauty was of great importance. Did the Baroness
forget that one day very soon— she would have to please a husband?
The Baroness sighed and reminded her of the serious little girl she had been
and how when she had been asked in what country the lion could be found replied
stoutly: ‘In the heart of a Brunswicker.’
‘I have heard the tale many times,’ said Caroline yawning. ‘What a horrid
little creature I must have been— even worse then, than now.’
‘It was a good answer,’ replied the Baroness, ‘and I trust you will never forget
it.’
‘Ah,’ retorted Caroline, ‘there is a sequel to the story. You’ve forgotten how I
escaped from you all at carousel and rode round and round on the horses which
was very dangerous you said and for which I should be punished, until I pointed
out that fear was something a Brunswicker knew nothing about so how could you
expect me, a Brunswicker, to be aware that I was causing you anxiety.’
‘You have always—’
‘Talked too much. So you have already told me. And I will repeat that when
Charlotte has gone, I shall be the prettiest princess in Brunswick.’
But never, she thought when she was watching her sister at the wedding
ceremony, as pretty as Charlotte.
She gazed at her father standing erect beside the bride ready to pass her over
to her prince.
Dear Papa, he is the greatest man in the world, I believe, she thought. Neither of us will ever find a man to compare with him.
And she began to picture herself standing there, all eyes on her in her bridal
gown with the shadowy figure of a bridegroom beside her.
Later at the banquet in the great hall at the place of honour and Caroline
continued to watch them. Charlotte was very gay, almost hysterically so. I know exactly how she feels, thought Caroline . For I should feel exactly the same.
How she would miss Charlotte! She turned to her brother Frederick William
and said to him: ‘There are only the two of us left now, for you can’t count the
others.’
Frederick looked rather shocked, but she laughed at him. It was silly to
pretend. Everyone knew their brothers were shut away from the rest of the family
because of the affliction, so why pretend?
Her eye caught that of John Stanley, the English boy who clearly showed how
much he admired her. She would take the first opportunity of talking to him.
When the dancing began she went to him smiling. His eyes were full of
admiration. ‘Of course,’ she said, ‘I am not supposed to talk to you in this way.’
‘N— no, Your Highness.’
‘But who cares for rules and etiquette? Do you?’
‘Not if you do not wish me to.’
‘Let us join the dancers. Then we shall be less conspicuous. Then I can talk to
you. You will find that I talk a great deal. You come from England, do you not?
As you know the Duchess is English. She cannot forget it, and nor are we allowed
to. Oh, you are shocked. How delightful! Do you think I am so very shocking?
But of course you do, and it would be foolish of you not to, because I am.
Shocking and indiscreet.’
‘Your Highness, I think you are—’
‘Yes, come along. Don’t hesitate. I dislike hesitation.’
‘I think you are very handsome.’
‘You think my looks are handsome, but that my speech is forward and
immodest and just what a princess’s should not be?’
‘I think that only sweet words could flow from such lips.’
‘Oh, what a charming compliment. I do believe, John Thomas Stanley, that
you have fallen in love with me. Oh, don’t deny it. It is all very right and proper, for if my sister has a lover, why should not I?’
John Stanley was overcome with dismay and pleasure. The Princess Caroline
was not only the most beautiful girl he had ever met, she was the most unusual.
Her conduct was noticed.
What can one do with suc
h a girl? sighed her mother to herself. She is wild—
like all of them. We can only pray that she is not too wild.
Her father promised himself that he would reprimand her later, but she would
be sad missing Charlotte, so let her amuse herself a little on Charlotte’s wedding day.
Madame de Hertzfeldt was asking herself how much like her brothers
Caroline might be and what was the right treatment to mete out to such a girl. A
great responsibility rested on her guardians she felt sure. She must choose an
opportunity to speak to the Duke about his younger daughter when matters of
state were less burdensome.
So Caroline flirted openly with John Thomas Stanley; and when it was
necessary to say goodbye to Charlotte the young man did much to reconcile her to
the parting.
————————
‘What I shall envy Charlotte most,’ declared Caroline to the long suffering
Baroness de Bode, ‘will be her children. Oh, Baroness, how I long to have a
child.’
The Baroness folded her hands together and looked up to the ceiling.
‘Now Baroness, what is wrong with that?’
‘It is an immodest subject.’
‘Nonsense. How could the world go on without children?’ ‘It is immodest for
a young girl to— to—’
‘To talk of adding to the coming generations? But surely that would be a
benefit to mankind. Admit it, Baroness.’
‘Your Highness, I do not know what will become of you. I tremble to think.’
‘Then you should think more, Madam, and it would, with practice, become
less of an effort. That might cure the trembling. A little baby— a dear little baby
— ! What a miracle! When shall I have a husband? How tiresome, that one must
have a husband before one can have a baby, for do you know, Baroness, I think I
should almost prefer the latter to the former.’
The Baroness put her fingers to her ears.
‘Pray remove your fingers,’ cried Caroline. I promise you I will no longer
assault your ears. Instead I shall go to see my children.’
Caroline flounced out of the schoolroom, leaving the Baroness murmuring to
herself: Should I speak to the Duchess? But of what use? It will have to be to Madame de Hertzfeldt. And what can one expect in a household when the wife
takes second place to the mistress?
Meanwhile Caroline rode out of the palace. She should have taken a groom
with her, but she had no intention of doing so. First of all she would call on the newest arrival— a baby boy three weeks old. He had been a little sickly at birth
and was improving now. She had ordered the cooks to send food to the
household, for if the baby were to thrive, the mother must be well fed.
There he was in his crib. She lifted him out . I think he knows me. Look, he is smiling.
She was happy, sitting in the old wooden rocking chair holding the baby. How
they adored her, these cottage people. They called her ‘Good Princess Caroline’.
Good, she thought, for doing what I want. How easy it is to be good.
She told the mother that food would arrive the following day and she would
see that the baby was properly clothed. And after that she went on to see her next protégé. The people cheered her as she rode through the town They had all heard
stories of her love for children and how households containing them benefited.
Any mother in distress only had to ask help from Princess Caroline and it came—
not as they had been accustomed to receiving help from royalty, not an
impersonal steward distributing a few comforts at Christmas-time, but with
genuine interest. It did one good, many had said, to see the Princess Caroline
come into a humble room and take a child upon her knees.
She never did so without saying to herself ‘Oh, if only I had a child of my
own!’
Caroline cannot go to the Ball
THE months flew by— one year, two years. There was little news from
Charlotte, except that she had given birth to a child. Lucky Charlotte!
‘When will there be a suitor for me?’ Caroline demanded not only of the
Baroness de Bode but of her older governess, Baroness von Münster.
‘When the time is ripe your parents will answer that question,’ replied the
Baroness von Münster.
‘Then I pray it may be soon,’ replied Caroline, and was silent, for she dare not
bait the elderly Baroness as she did poor Madame de Bode.
To the latter she remarked that if her parents did not provide a husband for her
soon she would have to find one for herself.
John Thomas Stanley was no longer at the Court. In any case she had not been
seriously concerned with him. She began to look about her. There was the young
Count Walmoden who had royal blood in his veins because his grandmother had
been the famous mistress of George II of England. And there was another
descendant of George II, the Count von Schulemberg, who was reputed to be very
rich indeed, having inherited some of the vast wealth which Ermengarda von
Schulemberg, Duchess of Kendal, had amassed during her long reign as the
king’s favourite.
Would such young men be considered suitable consorts? Of course not. How
exasperating to be a Princess and have to wait until a husband was chosen for
one! If she were a commoner— not like the people in the cottages, of course, but
a Baroness like Madame de Bode— she could go to the ball next week and
perhaps there meet a man, fall in love, marry and have children. What bliss!
The Baroness de Bode decided that she must really speak to someone about
Princess Caroline and that meant of course speaking to Madame de Hertzfeldt.
The Duchess was too vague; moreover she was English and somewhat at odds
with her children’s governesses because she was constantly reiterating that they
should be educated in the English way, which seemed absurd. How could the
Princess be educated in the English manner without English tutors? And of what
use would such an education be since she was German? And what, the Baroness
asked herself, was the English method of education? If the Duchess was an
example of it, then, for the sake of the Princess, she should be educated as a
German.
What a household, where one must speak to the father’s mistress rather than
the mother of one’s charge! But there was no help for it and no matter how
resentful a good and somewhat puritanical woman like the Baroness de Bode felt
when contemplating the situation, in the presence of Madame de Hertzfeldt she
could have nothing but respect for that lady.
She was granted an audience immediately, for Madame de Hertzfeldt
considered the bringing up of the Duke’s daughter a matter of great importance.
‘I am disturbed, Madam, by the Princess Caroline,’ began the Baroness.
Madame de Hertzfeldt sighed. Were they not all disturbed by the royal
children? ‘She speaks constantly of marriage— men and children.’
‘It has been so since the Princess Charlotte married?’
‘Yes, Madam.’
‘She is now approaching the age her sister was when she married.’
‘That’s true, Madam, and I am a little fearful. I was wondering whether her
freedom should be restricted a little.”
Madame de Hertzfeldt was thoughtful. One
would have to go very carefully.
She said: ‘Thank you, Baroness. This is a matter of some importance. I will speak of it to the Duchess.’
The Baroness retired, knowing that the admirable Madame de Hertzfeldt
would speak to the Duke and together they would decide what should be done;
then they would give the Duchess her instructions as to what orders she was to
make known to the Princess’s governess.
It was, of course, admitted the Baroness, the discretion one would have
expected from Madame de Hertzfeldt and this discretion was no doubt the reason
why she reigned supreme in the Court of Brunswick.
————————
‘Not go to the ball!’ cried Caroline, her eyes flashing. ‘And why, pray?’
‘Because,’ replied the Baroness, ‘it is decided that you shall not go. You are
too young as yet to go to balls.’
‘I— too young— when I have been at balls since before Charlotte’s marriage.
Am I growing younger then, Madam, that I have suddenly become too young?’
The Baroness said that there was no point in discussing the matter further for
the orders had come to her and she had obeyed them.
‘So my mother has decided this, has she?’
‘It has been decided,’ replied the Baroness.
‘Stop talking like a silly old oracle. I tell you I will go to the ball— I will— I will!’
When Caroline talked like that she was really alarming; her eyes seemed to
grow black and her face flushed scarlet.
There was nothing the Baroness could do but leave her.
————————
Caroline lay on her bed biting her fists in fury. ‘I must go to the ball,’ she
murmured. ‘Perhaps tonight will be the most important night in my life. Perhaps
tonight I shall meet my lover. I will go to the ball. I will. Why should they stop me? There is Charlotte— married at sixteen. And I am nearly sixteen and not
allowed to go to the ball. I won’t have it. I won’t.’
But what could she do? The realization of the futility of this increased her
anger. I have no ball dress? Nonsense. I’d wear an old one. I’d go in as
Aphrodite. I’d go as anybody—
The laughter started to bubble up, uncontrollable laughter. Imagine her
entering the ballroom as Aphrodite. She would demand they announce her. ‘My
lords and ladies, the Princess Caroline is unable to attend tyranny and in her place Aphrodite has risen from the sea— to attend the ball.’