o b464705202491194

by Cheyenne

  this is true— and I really believe―’

  But Caroline was not listening to her mother; she was reading the letter.

  The Prince of Wales doted on Lady Jersey; he spent most of his time with her;

  she was received at all the greatest houses as though she were Princess of Wales.

  The letter purported to be a warning to the Princess against Lady Jersey who, it

  was said, would do all in her power to undermine Caroline’s position in England.

  She would almost certainly attempt to find a lover for the Princess and aid her to continue the intrigue.

  ‘What will become of you,’ moaned the Duchess, taking the letter from her

  daughter and starting to read it again.

  ‘No one is going to lead me into a love affair if I don’t want to go,’ declared

  Caroline.

  ‘You don’t understand how clever these people can be. Even if you were not

  tempted—’ The Duchess looked knowingly at her daughter as though she were

  sure she would be— ‘that woman would make out a case against you. Oh, I am

  terrified— truly terrified.’

  ‘Nobody is going to make out cases against me,’ declared Caroline.

  ‘I fear, my child, that you are going among wolves.’

  ‘You forget that I have the Brunswick lion in my heart.’

  That might be, thought the Duchess, but it was a somewhat wild animal.

  ‘I will speak to dear Lord Malmesbury about the letter,’ said Caroline. ‘Pray

  give it to me, Mamma.’

  ‘I am not sure.’

  ‘I am,’ said Caroline, and snatched the letter.

  ‘I think you should be very careful, Caroline. Lord Malmesbury is, you must

  remember, working for the King.’

  ‘No,’ said Caroline almost gently, ‘he is working for me.’ Her mother looked

  after her helplessly as she went out.

  ————————

  ‘Pray, my Lord Malmesbury, tell me all you know about Lady Jersey.’ He

  was taken aback, she saw. So there was something in it. ‘Is she the Prince’s

  mistress? Come, be frank.’

  ‘The Prince has many friends and in a cultivated society friendship between

  members of opposite sexes does not necessarily indicate a love affair. Why does

  Your Highness ask?’

  Caroline brought out the letter. He read it and could not hide his dismay.

  Then he said: ‘An anonymous letter! One should never take such letters

  seriously. It may well be some milliner who is disappointed not to have obtained a post in the household that is being made ready for you. Some maidservant—’

  “Do you think such people would have intimate knowledge of my husband’s

  affairs?’

  ‘I see that there is much you have to learn of the English scene. There is

  constant gossip in the chocolate and coffee houses concerning people in high

  places. Royalty does not escape. Rather is royalty, treated more scurrilously than most. That is why it is always so important to live exemplarily. The writer of this letter has clearly been listening to gossip. She— or he— shows a complete

  ignorance of affairs. This letter should be immediately destroyed and forgotten.’

  ‘So you mean I should not be on my guard against Lady Jersey?’

  ‘Your Highness should be on guard against everyone.’

  ‘But not specially Lady Jersey?’

  ‘Especially against those members of the Court with whom Your Highness

  will be in close contact.’

  ‘But it says she will attempt to lead me into an affair of gallantry.’

  ‘Complete nonsense. She could do no such thing.’

  ‘And why not, pray?’

  ‘Because, Your Highness, no man would dare make advances to the Princess

  of Wales.’

  It was then that Malmesbury felt more than a twinge of uneasiness, for the

  Princess actually looked disappointed. ‘Why not?’ she demanded shrilly.

  ‘Because, Your Highness, anyone who presumed to love you would be guilty

  of high treason, which as Your Highness will know is punishable by death.’

  ‘By death!’

  ‘But certainly. It is a universal law. The King’s own sister, Caroline Matilda,

  who was Queen of Denmark, took a lover. He was executed; and she would have

  been also but for the intervention of His Majesty. She was imprisoned and died in prison when she was about Your Highness’s own age.’

  The Princess Caroline had turned pale, and Malmesbury pressed home his

  advantage.

  ‘So you see, this is the letter of a person who is unfamiliar with the ways of

  the Court. It should be destroyed. I am surprised—’ He stopped himself in time.

  He had been about to say that he was surprised that the Duchess should show it to her daughter. His friendship with Caroline was making him forget his diplomatic

  manners.

  ‘It is addressed to my mother,’ she said. ‘I will take it back to her and tell her to destroy it.’

  ‘Destroy and forget it,’ admonished Lord Malmesbury.

  She almost flounced out.

  What lack of grace! he thought. What will the Prince think of her? Lady

  Jersey’s task will not be difficult, I fear, and of course she will call attention to these gaucheries.

  Poor Caroline! What can I do to save her from unhappiness?

  ————————

  In the Duchess’s apartments Caroline was saying: ‘So you see, Mamma, this

  is merely the spiteful letter of a disappointed servant. Lord Malmesbury says that no man would I dare attempt to be my lover, for if he did he would be punished

  by death.’

  Caroline’s eyes gleamed. How exciting— to face death for a lover. If Lady

  Jersey were in truth the mistress of the Prince of Wales and she wanted a lover

  she would most certainly not hesitate. Why should she? If he could be unfaithful, so could she. She would have faced death for dearest Töbingen. Could there be

  another like him?

  The Duchess was thinking: Death to love the Princess of Wales? Could that

  really be the law? It certainly had been flouted in the case of her own mother. She remembered the Dowager Princess of Wales who had been so enamoured of Lord

  Bute that she had been unable to keep her devotion secret. She had never heard

  any suggestion that they should be sentenced to death— although everyone knew

  of the connection. He used to visit her openly; he behaved like a father to young George— and it was a very cosy comfortable arrangement. The people had not

  liked it, of course. But that was because they had not liked Lord Bute— it was not due to the fact that he was the Princess’s lover but that he was a Scotsman who

  had wanted to rule England.

  Oh, yes, the people had murmured against the lovers. The Duchess

  remembered the shouts of ‘Jackboot’— a play on Bute’s name— and ‘Petticoat’

  which used to be shouted in the streets. But they were amused by them, and there

  were cartoons and caricatures. No one had suggested treason. She knew that the

  English were the most tolerant people in the world. They liked their Royalty to

  amuse them and a little scandal was very palatable.

  In her frivolous way she was about to tell Caroline this; but even she realized

  the effect it might have on her daughter.

  So she said nothing; and held the offending letter in the flame of a candle.

  ————————

  As soon as Christmas was over, preparations to leave went on at great speed,

  and when a message came from the Prince of Wal
es to say that in spite of the

  Duke’s intercession on her behalf he forbade Mademoiselle Rosenzweig to

  accompany her mistress, Caroline was thrown into a fury of rage. ‘Why, Why,

  why?’ she demanded. Lord Malmesbury with his customary tact managed to calm

  her.

  There was doubtless a reason, he told her, but he could not tell her because he

  did not know it. He begged her to be patient. He would be her friend and

  counsellor in all things; and he believed she would find him as useful as a

  secretary.

  ‘The dear man,’ cried Caroline afterwards when taking, farewell of

  Mademoiselle Rosenzweig, I could have flung my arms about his neck when he

  said that. And he does, my dear Rosenzweig, comfort me a great deal for my loss

  of you.’

  There was no time for grieving; the journey was about to begin and it was by

  no means the best time of the year for travelling; the roads would be icy; and it might even be dangerous. Caroline was not put out at the thought. At least it

  would be exciting.

  On December 29th 1794, at two o’clock in the afternoon, they left Brunswick.

  The Duke said his goodbyes to his daughter very tenderly; and she wept a

  little.

  Dear Papa, she thought, he really was very good to me; and I suppose next to Major von Töbingen, I love him best in the world.

  He had been stern often and she was a little afraid of him but he had always

  been concerned for her, though never so much as now.

  ‘Goodbye, dearest Papa,’ she said.

  ‘Caroline, my dear child, try to be happy.’

  ‘It shall be my purpose in life, Papa.’

  ‘And please listen to the advice of older and wiser people.’

  She promised she would. She got into the carriage where her mother was

  already seated, for the Duchess was accompanying her to Hanover.

  Then the Duke took his leave of Lord Malmesbury and begged him to be a

  second father to his daughter until that time when she should be under her

  husband’s care, which Lord Malmesbury promised he would do and in a manner

  so fervent that the Duke’s fears were considerably appeased.

  The cannons on the ramparts of the palace were fired; and the carriages began

  their journey. Through Brunswick the people came out to see it pass and to cheer

  their dear Princess who had always been good to them and their children.

  Long life to her, they shouted. She, Princess of Wales— their own Caroline,

  who would one day be Queen of England,

  When the cavalcade reached Osnabrück there was grave news waiting for

  them. Malmesbury had planned to travel through Holland, but according to the

  dispatch, the enemy of England, the French, had marched into Holland and that

  country was in danger. It was impossible therefore to contemplate taking the

  Princess of Wales by that route and the squadron of ships under Commodore

  Payne which was to be meant to convey the Princess to England had, in view of

  the situation, returned to England. There was nothing to do but call a halt at

  Osnabrück and consider the next move.

  This was irksome, for without the influence of the Duke and Madame de

  Hertzfeldt, both mother and daughter became very unstable. The Princess openly

  flouted her mother; the Duchess gossiped incessantly; and the improvement

  which Lord Malmesbury believed he had begun with the Princess seemed to have

  evaporated. Caroline was a little truculent. She did not take his veiled criticisms so readily as she had at Brunswick. She was far too familiar with her attendants

  and called them her dears, her little ones, her darlings; and when Lord

  Malmesbury reminded her of the need to combine affability with dignity, she was

  a little haughty with him as though reminding him that he was merely the King’s

  ambassador while she was the wife of the Prince of Wales.

  There is going to be trouble, thought Malmesbury.

  ————————

  The Duchess having heard that the French were not far off was thrown into a

  panic.

  Caroline found her preparing to depart and reported this to Malmesbury at

  which the Earl went at once to the Duchess and remonstrated with her.

  ‘Madam,’ he said, ‘you cannot surely wish to leave your daughter

  unchaperoned.’

  ‘Nonsense!’ said the Duchess. ‘She is surrounded by women and she has you

  here to look after her. If the French were to come here, I don’t see why I should be here to be captured. They’ve always hated the English and they’d remember I

  am one.’

  ‘Madam, I crave your pardon, but I am in charge of the Princess and I cannot

  allow you to leave Her Highness until her ladies arrive from England.’

  ‘And when will this be?’ demanded the Duchess.

  ‘That, Madam, I cannot say, since our plans have been frustrated by the

  advancing French armies.’

  The Duchess could do nothing but obey for it was true that the Earl of

  Malmesbury was in charge; and it was in any case her duty to stay with her

  daughter.

  Caroline cried: ‘If you wish to go, go― I do not want you to stay with me if

  you prefer not to.’

  They wrangled together, and Lord Malmesbury was more concerned with

  their behaviour than with the advancing French.

  What will become of her in England? he asked himself. He made up his mind

  that it would be better to retreat to Hanover and stay there until he could be sure of conveying the Princess safely to England. From there he sent dispatches to the King and the Prince and settled down to wait for action.

  ————————

  Perhaps, he thought, this enforced stay at Hanover was not such a calamity.

  The Princess was most certainly not ready to be presented to her husband. He had

  a few weeks respite and because he was fond of her, he was very anxious to helps.

  her all he could.

  He had been shocked— but at the same time touched when as they prepared

  to leave Osnabrück she had suggested he ride in the carriage with her.

  ‘To tell you the truth, my lord,’ she said in her most confidential and

  somewhat coquettish manner, I am heartily, sick of my mother’s company and

  feel sure I should not only enjoy yours more, but profit from it.’

  ‘Quite impossible,’ he had retorted coldly. ‘It would be most improper.’

  This had sent her into peals of that uncontrolled laughter: which he always

  found so alarming.

  ‘Your Highness,’ he had told her, ‘must really take greater care in your

  behaviour towards your servants.’

  ‘But I do not regard a noble lord like you as my servant,’ she had cried

  mischievously.

  It seemed to him that she had learned nothing. Oh, yes, they needed this stay

  in Hanover.

  All through February they remained there, the Princess being lodged in the

  Bishop’s Palace. Malmesbury suggested that she read English for several hours

  each day and that he and she should converse in that language, which was an

  excellent idea because she improved considerably. She even tried to curb those

  gushing displays of affection towards her attendants of which the Earl had warned her; and he grew pleased with her once more. But there was one matter which

  continued to worry him. This concerned personal cleanliness.

  What, he asked himself in exasper
ation, could a man do in such

  circumstances? It was too embarrassing to be spoken of— but warned she must

  be, for no sooner was she taken into His Highness’s presence than he would be

  aware of her lack of cleanliness.

  He could no longer delay and however delicate the matter must find some

  way of making the Princess aware of what offence she would cause.

  The opportunity came when he was talking to her after dinner.

  ‘The Prince is a most fastidious gentleman,’ he explained, ‘and pays great

  attention to his toilette.’

  ‘So I have heard. Diamond buckles on his shoes! He invented a buckle of his

  own, I was told, and when he first took his seat in the House of Lords he wore

  satin and spangles. What a sight he must have been!’ The Princess giggled, half

  with admiration, half derision.

  ‘I was thinking rather of personal cleanliness,’ said the Earl hastily.

  ‘Oh?’ Caroline was surprised. What did that mean? she wondered.

  ‘The English nobility pay attention to bathing; in fact the toilette is a ritual—

  not to be hurried over.’

  Caroline laughed. ‘Oh, I never waste much time on washing. Madame Busche

  says she has never known anyone get through that performance as speedily as I.’

  .‘That,’ replied the Earl sharply, ‘is nothing of which to be proud.’

  Caroline looked startled and the Earl plunged in.

  ‘Your Highness must forgive me. I speak for your own good. It is obvious to

  me— and it would be to His Highness in particular— that you do not spend

  enough time at your toilette.’

  ‘My lord, what do you mean? Why should I waste my time going through a

  ceremonial dressing?’

  ‘I did not mean the ceremony, Your Highness. I meant the actual

  performance. It is necessary to wash the body all over and with care.’ This was

  most embarrassing and he admitted with any other member of a royal family but

  Caroline it would have been impossible. But that very familiar quality which he

  so deplored did at least have the effect of allowing him to speak freely. ‘And,’ he added‚

  ‘to change one’s linen frequently.’

  Caroline burst out laughing. ‘Oh, you mean I’m dirty!’

  Malmesbury remained outwardly unperturbed.

  ‘It may be,’ he said, ‘that I exceed my duty, but Your Highness knows that