by Cheyenne
were bonfires in the streets and the effigies which were burned were those of Sir John and Lady Douglas.
————————
The Duchess of Brunswick died at the time. Caroline was saddened, but her
mother’s behaviour had not been exactly endearing. The Prince, on attaining the
Regency, had offered her an apartment in Carlton House. Caroline guessed that
this was to discountenance her; and the old lady had been eager to accept and
would have done so had she not been prevailed upon by her son to refrain from
doing so. So she had declined and continued to hold court in her dark and gloomy
old house in New Street, Spring Gardens; but she did seem to take a delight in the humiliations heaped on her daughter, while she declared her dear nephew, the
Prince Regent, was always charming to her.
Caroline, was understandably, concerned with the fate of her mother’s faithful
lady-in-waiting, Lady Finiater, who on the death of the Duchess was left in very
dire straits, and endeavoured to get her pension of five hundred a year.
Caroline was beginning to see that the Regent was too powerful for her. There
would always be trouble, and as he was almost the King, she had little chance
against him.
Charlotte was to be betrothed to the Prince of Orange, a match which the
young Princess viewed with some distaste; and Caroline longed to be with her, to
condole with her, to stop her making an unhappy marriage as she had.
Bat Charlotte had spirit and her father was a little afraid of her on account of
that great affection she inspired wherever she went and the greater it became, the more he realized that quarrel between them could be disastrous to his own
standing with the people.
He groaned and cursed his wife and daughter. Never was it man such a lover
of the female sex, and never was a father and husband so plagued by them.
He blamed everything on to Caroline; he hated her; he could not bear to think
of her. The manner in which she behaved disgusted him. She was vulgar; she had
no sense of decorum; she was everything that he was not; and to think that she
was the mother of the heiress to the throne enraged him.
When the Czar of Russia visited England he was determined to keep Caroline
out of his sight for he could not endure the thought of the Czar’s seeing her and knowing that she was his wife.
When Caroline heard that there was to be a State visit to the Opera, she
mischievously decided to discountenance the Regent.
‘They may ban me from the drawing rooms but they can’t prevent my going
to the Opera,’ she announced triumphantly.
And while she was dressed for the occasion she grumbled to Lady Charlotte
and her women about the manner in which she had been excluded from the
Queen’s drawing room.
‘The Regent has said he does not wish to see you. And how can I ban the
Regent from my drawing room?’ she mimicked the Queen. ‘ I fear in the
circumstances I cannot invite you to attend. The old Begum! We have more fun in Montague House in five minutes than they do in a year in the old drawing rooms.’
She laughed gleefully, and gazed in delight at her reflection while Lady
Charlotte shuddered inwardly. Could she really be contemplating visiting the
Opera like that? She wore black velvet and on her head had set an elaborately
curled wig so black that her face heavily daubed with white lead and rouge made
a startling contrast.
‘Come on,’ she cried. ‘Smack it on. I want to be noticed tonight.’
Her large bosom was generously displayed and she called Willikin to
comment on her appearance. He threw his arms about her neck and she gave him
several smacking kisses and was clearly contemplating taking him with her.
Oh God, prayed Lady Charlotte, don’t let her be as foolish as that.
Fortunately she changed her mind in time.
At the Opera the National Anthem was being played when she arrived. The
Prince Regent was standing to attention in his box— on one side of him the Czar
of Russia, on the other the King of Prussia.
The anthem over, the audience seated itself and then someone in the stalls
noticed her.
‘The Princess of Wales!’ the cry went up and the people began to cheer. Here
was a situation more interesting than the Opera could hope to be. The Princess
and the Prince in the house together.
The Czar was looking interested.
‘What a handsome fellow,’ whispered Caroline excitedly.
‘Madam,’ said Lady Charlotte, ‘the people expect you to rise and
acknowledge their cheers.’
‘Oh no,’ she said audibly, ‘Punch’s wife is nobody when Punch is there. I
know my business better than to take the morsel out of my husband’s mouth.’
The applause continued.
And the Prince Regent with that elegance and savoir-faire which Caroline
could never hope to understand, let alone emulate, rose turning to face her and
gave the house and Caroline the benefit of that elegant bow which was the
admiration of all who beheld it.
It was an evening of triumph for Caroline and of exasperating humility for the
Prince. For when the Opera was over she went out to the carriage and found a
crowd waiting for her.
They were also waiting for the Prince Regent. ‘Where’s your wife, George?’
they asked mockingly. This was particularly infuriating when he was in the
company of visiting royalty.
As for Caroline it was: ‘Long live the Princess. God bless the innocent.’
They crowded round her carriage; they insisted on shaking hands with her.
Nothing loath she opened the door and took their hands in her affable friendly
way. They cheered her lustily. She was the heroine of the evening.
One cried: ‘Shall we burn down Carlton House? You only have to say the
word.’
‘No, no,’ she cried. ‘Just let me pass now and go home and sleep peacefully.
And God bless you.’
‘God bless you,’ they cried.
It was certainly a triumph.
————————
But she soon realized the emptiness of such triumphs. The Czar had been
impressed or amused by the evening at the Opera and he sent a note to Caroline
asking permission to call on her.
How delightedly she gave it! ‘We must have a banquet. My word, this will put
his little nose out of joint. We’ll have such a spectacle as to compete with
anything he’s ever had at Carlton House.’
That was a wild exaggeration, of course, but it delighted her to think that in
spite of her in-laws she was to receive the royal visitor.
She set her cooks to work; she sat with her women while long hours were
spent on her toilette. She insisted that the rouge and white lead should not be spared.
‘That’s what he liked last time. Give him lots of it.’
But when she was ready she waited in vain; for the royal visitor did not
appear.
Doubtless he had been made to realize by his advisers that he could not in a
foreign country visit a Princess who was ignored by the Prince Regent.
Caroline took off her wig and threw it into the air. ‘Well, that’s that, my
angels.’
She became very melancholy.
‘I don’t know why I stay in this cou
ntry to be treated in this way. What’s to
stop my leaving it? I can’t see anything to stand in the way.’
‘There’s war on the Continent,’ pointed out Lady Charlotte.
‘So there is. But if there was not, do you know I think I should go away. It
would be the best for everyone, including myself. I’d take Willie with me and
some of you dear friends.’
‘What of the Princess Charlotte?’
‘Ah, my Charlotte! But you know she is in constant conflict with her father
and a great deal of that trouble is through her loyalty to me. So perhaps it would even be better for her.’
She sighed. She was certainly in one of her moods of, deepest depression.
She left the house she had taken in Connaught Place for Blackheath. There,
she said, she could brood on her troubles, for she was becoming increasingly
aware that she would have to take some action— though what she was unsure.
Montague House was always a comfort. There she had had her happiest times.
She decided she would send for the Sapios and they should soothe her with their
music. It would comfort her considerably and perhaps provide her with the
inspiration she needed.
Lady Charlotte came hurrying in with a look of consternation. ‘Your
Highness, there is a carriage at the door. You are implored to leave without delay for Connaught House.’
‘This is too much. I refuse—’
‘Madam, the Princess Charlotte is there. She has run away— to you.’
‘Get my cape at once,’ cried Caroline; and in a few minutes she was on the
way to Connaught House.
————————
There she found Brougham, some of Charlotte’s ladies, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor Eldon, the Duke of York and the Duke of
Sussex. And in the midst of this gathering a very defiant Charlotte who when she
saw her mother ran to her and threw herself into her arms.
‘It’s no use,’ she said. ‘I shall not go back. I am going to live with my mother.
I have chosen.’
The men looked helpless and it was Brougham who spoke, ‘Your Highness
must consider what this could mean.’
‘I have considered,’ cried Charlotte imperiously. ‘I have made up my mind. I
am tired of being my father’s prisoner. I am going to be free. I am going to be
with my own mother, It’s what I want. It’s what the people want.’
Caroline said: ‘Tell me what has happened.’
Charlotte laughed. ‘I refuse to marry Orange.’ She shivered. ‘I absolutely
refuse and I have told him so. For one thing it would mean living in Holland
which is something I will not do. And why should I? I shall one day be the Queen
of England. England is where I propose to live.’
‘And your father knows this?’ asked Caroline.
Charlotte rolled her eyes to the ceiling. ‘The scene! You should have heard it.
I will say this for him— he has a fine command of the language. But do you know
how he is going to punish me? He’s going to dismiss all my staff and provide me
with— jailers. I won’t have it. We’ll be together, won’t we? We’ll be a pair of
outcasts.’
Brougham said: ‘Your Highness will explain to the Princess Charlotte how
impossible such a plan would be.’
Caroline nodded. ‘They wouldn’t let us be together, my angel. I’d have no
power to keep you— happy as I should be to do so.’
‘Oh, Mamma, how cruel they all are!’
‘Yes, my darling, but we must needs put up with it.’
Lord Eldon was regarding Charlotte with disapproval. He would have liked to
deal severely with that tempestuous and bouncing girl; if she were his, he had told the Regent, he would lock her up.
Brougham explained tactfully that the law had to be considered as well as her
father. She was very young. She was in the care of the State. She would have to
remember this.
‘I’d have you remember that I am the heiress to the throne. One day I shall be
your Queen.’
‘We know it, Your Highness, and it is for this reason that you must submit to
the law.’
Charlotte looked piteously at her mother, and Caroline could only nod.
‘He’s right, I fear, my darling. You’ll have to go back. Perhaps when your
father knows how strongly you feel, he will be lenient with you.’
Brougham with a dramatic gesture went to the window and drew aside the
curtains. It was dark, being past midnight.
He said dramatically: ‘It is quiet out there now, Your Highness; but with dawn
the people will begin to gather. If they know that you have run away in defiance
of your father it could start a riot— worse still. Who knows? And once these
disturbances begin there is no knowing where they will end. You would not wish
to start a civil war, I am sure, which could mean bloodshed for thousands of
innocent people.’
Charlotte was staring wide-eyed.
‘It’s true,’ he said. ‘Everyone here will bear me out.’
She looked round at the assembled company.
And no one denied him.
Brougham knew that he had averted a difficult situation. The Princess
Charlotte would return and obey her father.
The allied forces against Napoleon had entered Paris; Napoleon had been
obliged to abdicate and had retired to Elba. The French exiles, who had been
living in as much state as they could muster in Aylesbury, had left with great
pomp and ceremony for Versailles.
Caroline was thoughtful. The Continent was safe for travellers. Why should
she not put into practice a plan which had been formulating for a long time?
Why should she stay in England to be humiliated? Why should she not travel?
She had always wanted to. Next to children, travel could excite her more than
anything in the world.
There was only one person who could keep her here for she could take
Willikin with her: that was Charlotte. But of what use was she to Charlotte? In
fact now that Charlotte had been sent to Cranbourne Lodge in Windsor Forest,
she doubted whether she would be allowed to see her for months.
No, she was the cause of much of the friction between Charlotte and her
father.
She would be better out of the way.
Of one thing she could be certain. The Regent would put nothing in the way
of her going.
She was right. He did not. And so Caroline began to make her plans to leave
England.
The Spy at the Villa d’Este
So it was goodbye to England. Caroline’s feelings were mixed. It was sad to
leave Charlotte; but she had Willikin to comfort her; and as she drove to
Worthing with the boy and her two ladies-in-waiting, Lady Charlotte Lindsay and
Lady Elizabeth Forbes, she believed that she had at least some of whom she loved
to be her constant companions. Lady Charlotte Campbell had gone to Europe in
advance and would join her later; and in her there was another dear friend.
The people had cheered her all along the route. It was as though they did not
wish her to go. She had their sympathy. She took Willie’s hand and pressed it; he was excited, excited to be setting out on adventures with his dear Mamma who
spoilt him, as everyone said, so atrociously.
Brougham had not wished
her to go; in fact he had done his best to dissuade
her. She was not entirely sure of him; in fact she was not sure of any politicians and often wondered how politic their partisanship was. Were they for her for the
sake of their party— or against her for that reason? She was well aware that
numbers of her enemies were such because they wished to please the Prince
Regent.
She thought as she had many times of how different her life, would have been
if she had been allowed to marry dearest Töbingen. Then she would have had a
big family of children— not just one daughter whom she could scarcely call her
own because the dear child had never been allowed to be with her, and one son
who was not her own, much as she loved him. She had been forced to lavish all
that great mother-love on Willikin and sometimes she admitted to herself that he
was extremely self-willed and not very intelligent. Not that she did not love him.
She loved all children. But if she could have had that Töbingen brood—
Brougham had said to her: ‘Your Highness should never forget that what the
Prince Regent desires is to prove you guilty of immorality. He wants a divorce.
You are going to be surrounded by spies.’
That had made her laugh. ‘I will give them something to report to their
master.’
‘I beg of Your Highness to take care.’
‘Why, my dear friend,’ she replied, ‘you would deprive me of one of the
greatest pleasures in my life which is precisely not taking care.’
Brougham was dismayed. What a wild impulsive woman she was, impossible
to direct.
He looked at her severely. ‘Your Highness should know the worse. Do you
know what the Duke of Clarence has told the Captain of the ship on which you
sail?’
‘Well, I should be surprised if he spoke against me. My brothers-in-law have
always been my friends.’
‘He does not think to speak unkindly. Your Highness knows there has been
much scandal surrounding you.’
‘Ha. Those Douglases! I’d like to see them in court. And what has Clarence
said of me?’
‘He has told the Captain that he should have a love affair with you, that he can
be sure he would not be repulsed and the Prince Regent would have no objection.
In fact would be more likely to reward him.’
Caroline burst out laughing. ‘It has come to a pretty pass when Mrs.