by Cheyenne
more than duty prompts me. In England we pay more attention to matters of
personal freshness than is the custom in Brunswick. The Prince is a gentlemen of
high fashion His linen is kept in scented presses; he bathes each day and would
expect Your Highness to do the same. He would, I fear, be aware immediately if
you failed to do so.’
Caroline was astonished. ‘Bathe!’ she cried ‘What an odd idea. Is it not a
little eccentric? Even in France they do not bathe. I was told that there is only one bathtub in Versailles and that they grow flowers in it.’
‘I am sure you have not heard the truth. But I must explain to you that in
England bathing is considered of great importance.’
‘What a strange people I am going among.’
‘And a gentleman such as the Prince is of course greatly addicted to the
habit.’
Caroline looked at him mischievously, sensing the embarrassment which was
lurking behind his dignified manner.
So I am not clean, she thought, and he has been wondering for a long time how he can tell me so. He really does care about me or why should he bother If I did not love my dearest Major von Töbingen, if I were not going to be the wife of the Prince of Wales, I could love this man.
‘I will take advice from you, my lord,’ she said, ‘though I do not like it from
others.’
————————
His words had some effect, though not enough. Caroline was not fond of
washing and she thought her dear Earl was being over anxious.
He was relieved that he had been able to talk to her on such a subject without
mortally offending her; but he could see that the matter had not ended with that
conversation.
Perhaps he should approach one of her women. It would certainly be easier to
explain to her. He sought out Madame Busche, one of her very personal maids
who seemed to be a sensible woman.
‘Madame Busche,’ he said, ‘I know I can speak to you frankly. And this is a
matter of some delicacy so that I must know also that I can trust to your
discretion.’
‘You may rely on me, my lord.’
‘It concerns the Princess’s toilette. Frankly she does not pay enough attention to it and this is noticeable. The Prince would immediately be aware of it and as I know him well, I know that he would find it repugnant— more so than most of
us, because he is a very fastidious gentleman. I fear that if the Princess were
presented to him as she is today, he would be— quite frankly little disgusted.’
Madame Busche was indeed a sensible woman. ‘I am aware of this, my lord.
We find it very difficult to get the Princess to bathe or to change her linen. She says it is all a waste of time. In fact she prides herself on the small amount of time she spends at her toilette’
‘This must be rectified before she meets the Prince.’
Madame Busche sighed. ‘I will do my best, my lord You will understand—’
‘I have already spoken to the Princess and I think it has had some small effect,
but there must be more of a change before we reach England. What kind of linen
does she wear?
‘Coarse petticoats and shirts, my lord, and thread stockings. I put fresh ones
out for her but often she does not change them.’
‘Madame Busche, we must do our best to make her realize the importance
of cleanliness.’
Madame Busche promised that she would do her utmost.
But the fact was, Malmesbury reminded himself, that the German idea of
personal hygiene was not the same as that of the English, and English nostrils
therefore would be far more sensitive to unpleasant odours.
Soon Mrs. Harcourt would be coming out from England to take up her part as
Lady of the Bedchamber to the Princess of Wales. He would be able to speak to
her and perhaps something effective would be done then.
He might have spoken to the Duchess. Perhaps she was the obvious person to
whom he should have spoken. But she was a foolish woman— and he was
surprised that with her English upbringing she had not noticed this failing in her daughter. But while she followed the habits she had been taught in England she
had made no effort to instil them in Caroline.
————————
It was not until March that news came from England that the fleet which was
to escort Caroline to England had arrived.
The waiting was over. Malmesbury was relieved yet apprehensive. It was
perhaps foolish of him to feel the latter, because no one could find fault with the manner in which he had so far carried out his commission. But it was impossible
to have come to know Caroline so well and not to feel affection for her— and the
apprehension was for what would happen to her. He could not imagine how the
Prince of Wales could possibly be attracted by her.
The arrival of Mrs. Harcourt was a comfort. She was, he believed, a sensible
woman; she was English; she would understand the need for an improvement in
the Princess’s toilette and Lord Malmesbury could talk to her frankly.
Caroline was at first suspicious of her and resentful that her ladies-in-waiting
should be chosen for her when she was not allowed to take her secretary
Mademoiselle Rosenzweig with her. So she received Mrs. Harcourt as though she
disliked her, for there was no finesse about Caroline.
Mrs. Harcourt— a friend of Lady Jersey who had planned with that lady that
the Prince should marry not the fascinating Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, niece of the Queen) but the less attractive Caroline of Brunswick— was a woman of
experience.
At the moment it was necessary for her to find her way into the Princess’s
good graces, so she ignored the churlish reception and very soon Caroline’s
temporary dislike had passed.
Malmesbury took the first opportunity of talking to Mrs. Harcourt and telling
her of his fears. Mrs. Harcourt had, of course, been aware of Caroline’s failing
and she told the Earl that she was doing all in her power to lure the Princess to cleaner habits.
‘Pray do so,’ begged the Earl, ‘or I fear for the results.’
‘My lord Earl,’ replied Mrs. Harcourt, ‘I think your anxiety over these matters
has made you a little blind to our Princess’s virtues. I am sure the Prince will love her. She is so affectionate and good-natured. And you will agree that her desire to please everyone is most engaging.’
‘I recognize these virtues and I hope they will make up for the defects.’
‘Oh, but she is so lovable. And have you noticed a slight resemblance to
Maria Fitzherbert— when Maria was young, I mean? I am sure it is there. That in
itself would endear her to His Highness.’
‘I had not noticed,’ replied Malmesbury. ‘And certainly there is a great
difference in the characters of these two ladies. If Her Highness possessed one
half the dignity, the regality of Mrs. Fitzherbert—’
‘Ah, but she is so sweet-tempered and affable. I am sure she will please
everyone.’
There was one person who would be very pleased, Mrs. Harcourt was sure,
and that was Lady Jersey. But it was impossible to be with the Princess without
feeling sympathy for her and Mrs. Harcourt genuinely did find her affable and
affectionate.
She was well aware that these qualities would not carry her far with His Royal
Hig
hness the Prince of Wales. But the more she saw of the Princess, the more
Mrs. Harcourt liked her and by the time they set sail for England she shared a
little of Malmesbury’s desire to launch the Princess happily.
————————
The Duchess clasped her daughter in her arms.
‘Goodbye, my daughter. May happiness be yours. Tell the King of England
that I think of him often and I remember the happy days when we were children
together. Tell him how happy I am to see my daughter heir to the throne—
Princess of Wales— Queen of England.’
‘It would be scarcely kind to mention that, Mamma, because he has to die
before I can be, hasn’t he?’
‘Don’t be so frivolous, Caroline. The King won’t like it. Remember he said he
hoped you had not too much vivacity, and would be prepared for a quiet life.’
Caroline pouted. ‘I shall be myself and His Majesty will have to put up with
me.’
‘Ob, my dear child, when will you learn? Well, you are married now and
nothing can alter that and you are going to my dear— dear England. How I wish I
were going with you! Oh no, I don’t. I’m sure I should soon be quarrelling with
Charlotte. You will have to beware of Charlotte. I never liked her. She is sly and cunning and she will naturally hate you.’
Lord Malmesbury interrupted with apologies. It was time they left.
Caroline was not sorry to say goodbye to her mother, and she felt her spirits
lifted a little. It was a relief that the waiting was over. Very soon now she would see her husband and since she had heard so much about him she was beginning to
feel eager to start her married life. He was obviously a very fascinating
personality; and she was determined to do everything that would please him, even
endure a thorough bathing and changing her underclothes every day. They all
seemed to insist on that and though it seemed rather foolish to her, to please him she would do it. Often she looked at the picture which had been brought over for
her. He is undoubtedly very handsome, she thought. It will be pleasant to be
Princess of Wales and we shall have children.
Yes, she was beginning to look forward with pleasure to the prospect.
The cavalcade arrived at Stade and there they spent the night. Next morning,
at dawn, they sailed down the river to Cuxhaven where the English fleet lay in
residence. Caroline was touched to realize that these magnificent ships had come
from England to carry her to her new home.
As she boarded the Jupiter a royal salute was fired.
The journey to England had truly begun.
The Meeting
AFTER three days at sea the Jupiter arrived off the coast of Yarmouth.
Caroline, who was a good sailor, and had not suffered from seasickness as some
of the company had, was on deck to get the first glimpse of her new country but
all she saw was mist and the Captain told her that they could not land in such a
fog but must wait a few hours before proceeding to Harwich. She had chatted
familiarly with him throughout the voyage and he, like all the other officers on
board, found her charming.
‘There’s nothing haughty about the new Princess of Wales,’ was their
comment.
Lord Malmesbury looked on and saw much of his training dispensed with.
Often he heard her shrill laughter, noticed her coquettish glances at the men,
deplored her habit of making what he called ‘missish friendships’ with her
attendants and the habit into which she had slipped once more of calling her
maids, ‘my dear’, ‘my heart’, ‘my love’. It pleased them perhaps— but it was not
royal. And he heard too that Lady Jersey had been appointed as one of the ladies
of her bed-chamber. This was a cruel action on the part of the Prince, but he
supposed His Highness had been cajoled into it; and knowing something of that
lady, Malmesbury saw great trouble ahead for his Princess.
The Prince, however, was almost certain to be a little interested in his bride.
His love of women would surely arouse in him a certain curiosity and if he found
Caroline just a little to his taste he would be ready to be her lover, if only for a brief time,
The fog lifted and the Jupiter was soon sailing past Harwich; they anchored at the Nore and then next day sailed on to Gravesend.
There Caroline said goodbye to the captain and officers of the Jupiter in a most affectionate manner and boarded the royal yacht Augusta for the journey up the Thames to Greenwich.
Malmesbury was beside her as they came up the river eager to see the effect
the country had on her. The sight of those green fields touched him deeply.
Nowhere on Earth, he believed, was the grass so green. Caroline thought it
beautiful and for once seemed to find nothing to say as she gazed at those fields, shut in by their hedges, and the graceful houses with their gardens coming down
to the river’s edge; and as they came to Greenwich she could see the city’s
buildings on the skyline dominated by the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Now, thought the Earl, there should be members of the Prince’s household
waiting to greet his bride. He looked for them in vain.
So the Princess of Wales stepped ashore at Greenwich and found no one to
welcome her.
————————
As she sat in her carriage on the way to Greenwich, Lady Jersey was
contemplacently smiling. We shall be at least an hour late, she thought, and that is exactly as I would wish it to be.
She had in fact arranged that it should be so. Madam Princess would have to
learn quickly that the lady who ruled the Prince’s household was his mistress and there was going to be no change in that arrangement now that he had a wife.
She was sure there was nothing to fear from Caroline— if her information
was correct. The young woman was gauche, without grace and not particularly
clean. How that had amused her! To think of Malmesbury— that most urbane of
diplomats— finding it his duty to warn the Princess that she should take more
baths!
One day she would amuse the Prince with an imaginary account of the scene.
But not yet. She must tread carefully for a while. Let him learn that the creature disgusted him without— as he thought— her help.
She had whispered all sorts of information to him, gradually damning
Caroline, just as she had when she had had Maria Fitzherbert to deal with. Maria, aloof at Marble Hill, gave her greater cause for anxiety than the Princess of
Wales, for she knew that the Prince thought often of Maria.
However, she herself could still enthrall the Prince and she was going to keep
a tight hold of the leading reins by which at the moment she held him.
With her she had brought a change of costume for the Princess which she
herself had had made. She had had many descriptions of the Princess’s physical
appearance and had decided to dress her in white which would, Lady Jersey felt,
be the most unbecoming; she had brought with her a tightly fitting hat which
would hide Caroline’s hair because by all accounts it was beautiful. Lady Jersey
had it all cleverly planned.
She was amused now to see the discomfiture of her companions, Lord
Claremont and Colonel Greville, both of whom had been commissioned by the
Prince to meet the Princess and, with an escort of the Prince’s Own
Light
Dragoons, escort her to St. James’s.
How they fidgeted; and they knew in their hearts that Lady Jersey had
deliberately delayed them so that the Princess might have the humiliation of being kept waiting.
———————
The Governor of the Hospital at Greenwich, Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser,
received Caroline and the company with the utmost grace, but he could not hide
the fact that he was uneasy because the escort had not arrived.
Malmesbury was deeply conscious of the reason for the delay and thought it
augured no good for Caroline’s future.
He was glad that he had warned her to be on her guard against women such
as Lady Jersey.
He was not displeased with the Princess who, since she had stepped ashore,
had behaved with some decorum This aught have been due to the fact that she
was nervous, but it was still admirable. She had been far too noisy on the Jupiter but it was true that she had endeared herself to the officers; and if she could win the approval of the people through her free manners perhaps they had some
virtue.
She looked charming, too. In fact he had rarely seen her look so well. The
clothes which she put on for this occasion had been chosen by Madame de
Hertzfeldt and Malmesbury was thankful for the good taste of that lady. Madame
de Hertzfeldt had made Caroline promise that she would wear these clothes for
her entry into England and although Caroline had thought them too quiet, she had
promised.
Madame de Hertzfeldt had chosen well. The muslin dress over the blue-
quilted satin petticoat was the most becoming color she could have chosen; it
gave a touch of blue to Caroline’s rather protruding pale green eyes which was
attractive; but it was the hat which did more for her than anything else. It was
black beaver trimmed with blue and black feathers; it shaded her face; it subdued the rather too high colouring; and it showed her pretty hair to advantage.
Presentable, thought the Earl. I wonder whether she thought to change her
linen.
She stood at the window with the Earl beside her.
How much longer! he wondered. This is disgraceful. They should have been an hour early to make sure of being here. I am sure the Prince would be most
displeased.
Sir Hugh was doing his best to entertain the Princess and she was already