o b464705202491194

by Cheyenne

  boys with their wildness. But there was always dearest little Amelia, the light of his life, he called her. His dearest youngest daughter who was yet too young to

  cause him any concern; he would like her to remain a child— a lovely innocent

  child for ever. And even she worried him because of that cough of hers. He

  himself prescribed her cough mixture and always impressed on her the need to

  take it; and when she put her arms about his neck and kissed him and called him

  dearest Papa, everything that he had suffered, the years of marriage with a woman who did not greatly attract him, everything seemed worthwhile.

  He still had the verses which Miss Burney composed on his recovery after

  that frightful illness and which darling Amelia had presented to him. He

  remembered how sweet the child had looked and how she had spoken her piece

  which was:

  The little bearer begs a kiss

  From dear Papa for bringing this.

  He would always treasure the memory. And whatever happened he had his

  darling Amelia.

  Now he asked the Queen how Amelia’s cough was and when he heard that it

  was better he was much relieved.

  ‘I must bring up this matter of George’s debts to Parliament,’ he said. ‘I

  suppose they will be generous.’

  ‘It is the price he has to pay for his marriage.’ The Queen’s big crocodile

  mouth widened in a smile. ‘I daresay he is thinking the price a high one. Well, we all have to pay for our follies.’

  ‘You think he cannot take to the young woman, eh, what?’

  ‘I am sure he cannot. You will admit that she is a— spectacle.’

  ‘I thought she was a handsome enough young woman.’

  ‘Not handsome enough for George, evidently.’ The Queen gave a quick laugh.

  ‘Poor child,’ said the King compassionately. ‘It is not easy.’

  ‘Scarcely a child. I was some ten years younger when I came here.’

  ‘I know it. I know.’

  ‘I feel Louise would have been a better choice. Well, it is too late now. I can

  feel almost sorry for George.’

  The King frowned. ‘I hope there will be no troubles about these debts. They

  are enormous. Some £620,000. How did he ever manage to let them grow to that

  extent, eh, what?’

  The Queen shrugged her shoulders. ‘George will have the best of everything.’

  She laughed again; but the King did not feel in the least like laughing. He was

  worried. It was not so long ago that the French had taken their king to the

  guillotine and cut off his head. When such a mighty conflagration as the

  Revolution was raging across the Channel, a neighbor so near as England could

  not expect to remain aloof. The execution of a king must stir up feeling against all monarchies. Are we so safe over here? wondered the King. And one of the most

  unpopular members of the royal family was the Prince of Wales.

  ‘If they go on like this,’ he said, ‘there’ll be no kings left in Europe. Eh,

  what?’

  The Queen was accustomed to the manner in which the King’s thoughts

  strayed from one topic to another and she knew how much events on the other

  side of the Channel had preyed on his mind. If the King were incapacitated again

  she was going to make sure that she had a say in affairs and if George became

  Regent, she would conspire with Pitt to put a limit on his powers.

  ‘George’s behaviour does not help to make Royalty popular,’ she observed.

  ‘And now this marriage of his. If he had listened to me—’

  ‘When has he ever listened to either of us?’

  The Queen lifted her shoulders. ‘Well, he married that his debts should be

  paid and it is high time that they should be. I hear that some of the trades-people involved are getting very restive.’

  ‘Something must be done— must be done. Don’t want trouble, eh, what?

  Must speak to Pitt. Should not be too much delay.’

  ‘Yes, speak to Pitt. It is a well known fact that the Prince centered into this

  marriage for one reason only— and that was because he was in debt to such an

  extent that it could no longer go on.’

  The Queen smiled. Lady Jersey reported to her regularly.

  Between them— and with the help of the Prince, of, course— they would

  make Caroline wish she had never heard of the Prince of Wales.

  ————————

  Mr. Pitt was not inclined to make life easy for the Prince of Wales. Why

  should he? The heir to the throne had consistently shown himself to be the enemy

  of Mr. Pitt, had allied himself with Mr. Pitt’s enemies, and had made no secret of the fact that Fox was his man and on the day when he inherited the Crown he

  would do all in his power to oust Mr. Pitt from his position and set up in his place Mr. Fox or one of his Whig cronies.

  The Prime Minister was too much of a politician to help such an enemy. It

  was Pitt who forced Fox to deny in the House of Commons the Prince’s marriage

  to Mrs. Fitzherbert which had been responsible for making such a breach between

  Fox and the Prince that it had, Pitt believed, never entirely been healed. But the Prince was a Whig and Mr. Pitt and his Tones were prepared to do as little as

  possible for him.

  The Prince’s debts seemed to be a recurring problem. How one man could

  manage to spend such large sums was a mystery. Should the Nation be expected

  to pay an extravagant young man’s gambling debts and those he had incurred in

  the pursuit of women— and Lady Jersey was one of the most rapacious of his

  band— merely because he was the Prince of Wales?

  Certainly not.

  Mr. Pitt made his proposals to the House of Commons.

  The Prince’s debts, he explained, were once more a subject for discussion. He

  regretted to inform the House that they amounted to some £619,570— a vast sum

  of money they would all agree. He proposed as follows: The Prince’s income

  should be increased to £125,000 a year exclusive of those revenues due to him

  from the Duchy of Cornwall which he estimated as some £13,000 a year.

  £120,000 should be allowed to the Prince for the completion of Carlton House.

  He did not, however, propose to settle the Prince’s debts. He believed that the best manner of dealing with this problem was for the Treasury to deduct £73,000 from

  the Prince’s income per annum and this should be done until his debts were

  settled. This seemed to him the best possible solution to a delicate matter.

  - When the Prince heard what the Government proposed he was furious.

  He raved to Lady Jersey: ‘They have cheated me. I married this woman whom

  I loathe solely because my creditors were threatening action if they were not paid.

  And I went through this marriage with her— this farce of marriage— and now I

  am worse off than ever. They have increased my income and will deduct £73,000

  a year to pay these wretched debts. I shall be worse off than before.’

  Lady Jersey was mournful. The Prince’s poverty affected her deeply. She did

  not wish him to cut down his expenses; she was doing very well and if there was

  less to be gained because the Prince must be ‘careful’— what a hateful word— he

  was far from pleased.

  She tried to soothe him. ‘It is not final yet. It has to be passed.’

  ‘Pitt!’ he said. ‘It’s always Pitt. That fellow hates me. What a diabolical plot!

  To ded
uct such a sum from my income!’

  He thought of that other occasion when he had been unable to pay his debts

  and the King would not help him. He had economized; he had sold his horses,

  shut up most of Carlton House; and he and Maria had gone down to Brighton in a

  hired coach. It had seemed such fun then. They had enjoyed their economizing.

  But then he had enjoyed everything with Maria. Maria had never wanted

  anything; she had never craved money, jewels—

  He looked with faint distaste at his mistress— that dainty creature who

  sometimes reminded him of a snake. But she still knew how to fascinate him,

  though not so completely as she once had done.

  Yes, they had shut up Carlton House and gone down to Brighton and they had

  lived in a manner which he called humble— and now looking back he could

  believe that had been the happiest time of his life.

  How different this was! His debts unpaid; his income raised and yet he would

  be poor because from it he would be obliged to pay his debts.

  It was insulting. And it was more than that. It was infuriating, maddening and

  tragic because to achieve this end had had been forced to marry a woman he

  loathed,

  He hated her more than ever now. And what consolation had he? Frances

  Jersey— when his heart cried out for Maria Fitzherbert.

  Caroline was in despair. She had not believed that it could be quite like

  this. Although she had not expected her husband to fall passionately in love with her on sight, she had allowed herself to imagine that in time they would come to

  an understanding. But how could they, when he loathed her and made no secret of

  the effect she had on him.

  I would have tried, she reminded herself. But, by God, if he is going to humiliate me then I shall show him that I care nothing for him?

  Lady Jersey! That woman was always close to her. And he had placed her

  there. She would not have blamed him for having a mistress; but surely he should

  have had the good taste, the good manners, to keep his liaison from his wife. The First Gentleman indeed! Then God help women if he was the finest example of

  his sex,

  ‘I hate him!’ she cried in the privacy of her apartments,

  But that was in private. No one was going to know how hurt she was

  She wondered how best to hurt him. She found a way. She had seen Maria

  Fitzherbert, the woman who had once so enslaved him that he had committed the

  utmost folly of going through a form of marriage with her.

  So that was Maria! She seemed an old woman to Caroline. She must be well

  past forty. And what airs! One would have thought she were indeed Princess of

  Wales Handsome in a way, but with a beak of nose. Lovely hair. Better than

  mine? Caroline asked herself . I don’t think so. A good skin it was true, but fat and unmistakably middle-aged.

  She told him when next she saw him. ‘I met Widow Fitzherbert. What a

  Madam, eh? Mrs. Fitzherbert, they told me, I thought she was visiting Royalty—

  or at least a Duchess. Then I hear she’s plain Mrs. Fair-fat-and forty!’

  He had turned scarlet with anger. How dare she attack his goddess. He gave

  her a look of the utmost contempt and she knew that he was comparing them and

  that he saw the middle-aged widow as eternally beautiful and herself eternally

  repulsive. He revealed something else. In his way he was still in love with the

  woman— more so than with Lady Jersey.

  It was hurtful but gratifying in a way. It might well be that Madame Jersey

  would not always be at hand to torment her.

  Caroline went about with a defiant air. She had given up trying to please him;

  instead she did her best to make him aware that she had no love for him. And yet

  she longed to win his affection. She had heard much about his elegance, so she

  tried to be elegant too, but she only succeeded in looking more vulgar in his eyes.

  She could never compete with the exquisite ladies of his circle; and the more she tried to, the more dismally she failed. Knowing how he admired wit, she tried to

  be witty; her clumsy efforts to amuse were even more pathetic than her attempts

  to dress with taste.

  Everything she did made him despise her the more.

  God damn him! she cried. Why did they bring me here? I wish they had kept their Prince of Wales.

  Then she would think of Major von Täbingen, yearn for him and dream of the

  happy life they might have had together. She wished then that she had died when

  they took him from her— which she believed she almost had.

  And then in the midst of her despair she made a discovery. She forgot her

  miseries; she even forgot the lost joy she might have had with Major von

  Töbingen. She forgot everything but what the future was promising her now.

  That sad and sordid union was to bear fruit.

  She was going to have a child.

  ————————

  They would go to Brighton, said the Prince. The air would be good for her

  condition.

  She had hoped that now he would show a little interest. It was true that he was

  delighted He had done his distasteful duty and got the woman with child. Now he

  was entitled to leave her alone. His spirits rose, although he was angry about the manner in which Parliament had decided his creditors should be appeased. He

  always enjoyed being at Brighton; the people were so different from the

  Londoners, they did not criticize him— at least not openly. Perhaps they would

  always be grateful to him for bringing prosperity to their town.

  So to Brighton where the inhabitants turned out in their thousands to welcome

  them and to shout their loyal greetings, not only to the Prince but also to his

  Princess. It was fitting that he should bring her down to Brighton. His chief

  residence might be Carlton House but Brighton was his home, and the Princess

  was pregnant so what better for her than the sunshine and the sea breezes?

  It was rather a damp arrival, for the rain poured down on the Prince and his

  wife, but Caroline cared little for that; she smiled and waved to the people in her free manner, and consequently, to the Prince’s chagrin, won their hearts.

  But she was soon to discover that life could be as humiliating at Brighton as at

  Kempshott and Carlton House. The Prince had no intention of spending any time

  with her; he left her alone and devoted himself to his Brighton friends who

  thought up all kinds of lavish entertainments for his pleasure.

  Lady Jersey was constantly with the Prince and by an unfortunate irony was

  also pregnant. This caused a great deal of amusement and even the loyal

  inhabitants of Brighton— could not resist fabricating jokes and cartoons about the Prince’s virility. Lady Jersey was more unbearable than ever. She constantly took the place of honour and Caroline, often feeling sick and ill, spent a great deal of time alone in her apartments, sometimes going for walks with only Mrs. Harcourt

  and a manservant in attendance.

  Her greatest relaxation was writing home. She found that thus she could

  relieve her feelings. If she told her mother how right she had been, how Queen

  Charlotte was an ugly little woman who was determined to spoil her daughter-in-

  law’s chances of living happily in England, she felt better. She would write cruel little descriptions of her new family; she could describe the foppish ways of her husband; the spitefulness of the Queen and the aloofne
ss of her brood of silly

  daughters.

  And doing this and walking now and then and dreaming of the following year

  when she would have her baby, she felt life was tolerable.

  The Prince had left her in Brighton and gone to Carlton House. Lady Jersey

  accompanied him and during her stay in London was summoned to audience with

  the Queen, who wished for a detailed account of Caroline’s behaviour in

  Brighton.

  ‘So she is with child,’ said the Queen. ‘It has not taken long, and I believe that the Prince has not been the most devoted of husbands.’

  Lady Jersey smiled sycophantically. It was clear that she herself was

  pregnant, and doubtless through the Prince. But Lady Jersey was a discreet

  woman, and Lord Jersey would accept paternity, so there was no need for

  propriety to be outraged.

  ‘I congratulate you on your own condition,’ went on the Queen.

  Lady Jersey thanked Her Majesty and said she welcomed this addition to her

  family.

  ‘I trust it will not mean too long an absence from your duties.’

  ‘I can assure Your Majesty that my desire to serve will not allow me to absent

  myself for longer than is necessary.’

  The Queen nodded. ‘And how does the Princess spend her time?’

  ‘She walks a little rides, and writes a great many letters home.’

  ‘Ah. Letters.’

  ‘Your Majesty, I am told that she sometimes laughs herself almost into

  hysteria when writing letters to her family.’

  The Queen s eyes narrowed. ‘It would doubtless be interesting to know what

  those letters contain.’

  Lady Jersey’s eyes sparkled with mischief. ‘If it were in my power to inform

  Your Majesty of that, I should believe myself to have done my duty.’

  It was a dangerous subject— one which should only referred to in the most

  oblique terms.

  But it was clear to Lady Jersey that this was a command from the Queen.

  ————————

  It was Mrs Harcourt who called Caroline’s attention to the fact that Dr.

  Randolph, a member of the household was shortly leaving for Germany.

  ‘It occurred to me that Your Highness might have some special commission

  for him.’

  Caroline declared that the doctor might carry some letters to her family. When