Indiscretions of the Queen

by Виктория Холт

  Mrs. Fitzgerald was very perturbed,. She went at once to Caroline.

  ‘My precious pet! He is my child, my dear. That’s how he is to me. But what this creature is suggesting is that I gave birth to him. Is that it? And that I confided this to her? What a liar she is.’

  ‘Yes, Your Highness, but perhaps a convincing one.’

  ‘A convincing one. What do you mean, my dear? How could she convince anyone of such a falsehood!’

  How indeed? thought Mrs. Fitzgerald sadly, when the Princess of Wales was so familiar in her attitude to the men who visited the house, when she had been seen kissing Sir Sydney Smith in a game and had shut herself in a room with Sir Thomas Lawrence to be painted and was always so delighted Captain Manley and so affectionate in her manner towards him Heaven help us, thought Mrs. Fitzgerald, if that woman really tried to make mischief would it be so difficult? ‘Tear up the letter, Fitz dear, and think no more about it. She’ll stop making a nuisance of herself when she realizes that I am determined not to see her.’

  But Lady Douglas was not a woman to be lightly put aside. She had made a plan of revenge and she lost no time in putting this into action.

  Caroline received another letter and this one she read. It was very short and extremely mystifying. Lady Douglas wrote that she had received the anonymous letter Caroline had sent her together with the drawing.

  ‘What is the woman talking about?’ demanded Caroline. ‘What letter? What drawing?’

  Neither Mrs. Fitzgerald nor Mrs. Vernon could throw any light on the matter but they were deeply disturbed.

  Another letter followed which was signed by Sir John and Lady Douglas and Sir Sydney Smith. They asked for an audience with the Princess because they felt that in the peculiar circumstances they must have an explanation.

  ‘What are they talking about?’ demanded Caroline.

  ‘I don’t know, Your Highness,’ said Mrs. Fitzgerald, ‘but I find it very disturbing and I think that you should get advice on how to act.’

  ‘You know what she is saying, Your Highness. It is that Willikin is indeed your child.’

  Advice? thought Caroline. Yes, she did need it. This matter was too important to be ignored. And what was Sir Sydney Smith doing in it? She had thought he was her friend.

  She could go to the King. No, he was too ill and he would be so shocked at the prospect of any scandal, moreover he had been too much worried already by his children, she did not want to add to those anxieties.

  The Princes— apart from her husband— had always been friendly towards her; perhaps she could ask one of them.

  Her choice fell on Edward, Duke of Kent, who was the most sober of all the Princes; he was good-natured and kind-hearted. She would ask him to come to see her and help her throw some light on this affair.

  As soon as he received her invitation, he came to Montague House and listened carefully to all she had to tell him. She explained how she had met Lady Douglas and had become friendly with her but how she had heard that Lady Douglas had gossiped most scandalously, after which she had refused to see her.

  Then had come letters and finally one referring to an anonymous letter and another requesting an interview with the Douglases and Sir Sydney Smith.

  Caroline had no idea what Lady Douglas was attempting to do and why Sir Sydney Smith should be involved.

  The Duke of Kent looked grave.

  ‘The matter must be examined,’ he said. ‘I don’t know these Douglases but I have met Sir Sydney Smith. I will see him and hear what he has to say.’

  The Princess thanked him and remarked to Mrs. Fitzgerald after he had gone: ‘My kind brother-in-law will soon get to the bottom of this affair, and that will be an end of it.’

  Sir Sydney Smith called on the Duke of Kent as requested and with him brought the anonymous letter and the drawing to which Lady Douglas had referred.

  ‘Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Wales, has told me of some trouble in which you and Sir John and Lady Douglas are involved. She does not understand what it is about. Perhaps you could explain.’

  ‘I can indeed,’ cried Sir Sydney. ‘And begging Your Royal Highness’s pardon, I am sure the Princess is in no doubt as to the cause of the trouble. Would you yourself, sir, not want an explanation if this had been sent to a lady of your acquaintance when that lady had a husband who was your greatest friend?’

  The Duke of Kent stared at the piece of paper which Sir Sydney Smith had laid before him. It was an obscene drawing of Sir Sydney Smith and a woman (Lady Douglas, Sir Sydney explained) in a compromising position.

  ‘This is— disgusting!’ cried the Duke of Kent.

  ‘So think I, sir, and so thinks Lady Douglas. Why, it is enough to set Sir John and me at each other’s throats.’

  ‘And this— is the work of the Princess of Wales. It came, sir, with this letter which although unsigned, I am assured is in Her Highness’s handwriting.’

  It did not occur to the Duke of Kent to doubt that the letter and drawing were the work of Caroline. Her eccentric behaviour was well known. The point was that however innocent she might be, it was not inconceivable that she might be guilty of the charges brought against her.

  ‘And what do you propose to do?’ asked the Duke of Kent.

  ‘This is an attack as Your Highness will see on my honour and that of Lady and Sir John Douglas. I do not think Sir John is a man who will lightly allow such an insult to pass.’

  ‘It is a shocking affair. You know the precarious state of the King’s health.

  This would have a disastrous effect on him if it came to his ears. You will appreciate this, Sir Sydney, and I am sure that such a loyal subject as yourself would not wish to increase his difficulties.’

  Sir Sydney agreed that he was indeed a loyal subject and if he could persuade Sir John to drop the matter, he himself would be prepared to do so. But of course the Princess of Wales must understand that there must be no more such attacks.

  ‘I can assure you of this,’ replied the Duke of Kent.

  ‘Then, sir, leave it to me to persuade Sir John. I am sure I can do it.’

  The Duke grasped Sir Sydney’s hand. He believed he had settled, with the utmost tact, a matter which might have raised a big scandal in the family.

  A few days later Sir Sydney called on him and told him that Sir John had promised that the matter should go no further.

  The Duke of Kent wrote to the Princess to tell her that the unfortunate matter was at an end but she should have no more correspondence with the Douglases.

  The fact was: that he had been disgusted by the drawing and had readily believed that it was the work of the Princess.

  He shivered, pitied his brother for being married to such a wife, congratulated himself on having skilfully handled a delicate situation, and put the matter out of his mind.

  Lady Douglas was incensed. Her little plot had failed. And it was due to Caroline’s having called in her brother-in-law. Who would have thought she would have had the sense!

  And now Sydney, out of deference to a royal Duke, had made them all agree that the matter was at an end.

  Was there to be no revenge then? Was she to be insulted by Caroline?

  She would not accept that. But she would have to wait awhile. After all there was the affair of Willikin, which was far more serious than an anonymous letter and a disgustmg picture.

  The Douglas Affair

  For some months Lady Douglas waited impatiently, but her desire for revenge grew rather than diminished. She was a vindictive woman, and she had hoped for great benefits through her association with the Princess of Wales. They would never be hers now since the odious woman refused to receive her. But she was going to regret that It seemed the greatest fortune when Sir John was given a post in the household of Augustus, Duke of Sussex The Duke of Sussex, fourth brother of the Prince of Wales, had had rather startling adventures in matrimony himself when at the age of twenty he had married Augusta Murray without the consent of his father. His
marriage had later been declared null and void since it contravened the Royal Marriage Act but the Duke had snapped his fingers at the law and set up house with the lady he and his brothers acknowledged as his wife.

  Lady Douglas saw the opportunity she needed in this appointment and badgered her husband to tell the Duke that Willikin was the Princess’s own child.

  ‘But my dear,’ protested Sir John, ‘this could make the most violent upheaval.’

  ‘That’s what I want.’

  ‘You want it? But it would be trouble— terrible trouble.’

  ‘For them that deserve it.’

  ‘I think we should keep out of it. You know what happened about the letter.’

  ‘Oh yes, yes, His Majesty’s health is so precarious that he must not be disturbed. In the meantime that scandalous woman can foist her illegitimate offspring on the nation.’

  ‘But she is not foisting William Austin on anybody.’

  ‘William Austin! He’s no more Austin than I am. That’s her story. And how do you know that she won’t try to foist the little brat on the nation? Why, don’t you see, that boy could be our future king.’

  ‘Oh no, that’s going too far.’

  ‘I will decide what is going too far. It’s your duty, John Douglas, to see that what is going on reaches the right quarters.’

  ‘And what do you mean by the right quarters?’

  ‘Surely you know. The Prince of Wales should hear of this.’

  ‘You’re not suggesting that I go to the Prince of Wales?’

  ‘What I’m suggesting is that you tell his brother. That’s not so difficult, is it?

  You are after all a member of his household. Tell him, and let him carry on from there.’

  ‘I don’t think you understand what a storm you could be raising.’

  ‘That’s exactly what I do understand. And I’m waiting for that storm. It’s our duty. Are you going to stand by and see a little bastard king of this realm? Are you going to see him snatch it from our dear Princess Charlotte?’

  ‘I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.’

  ‘Oh, but you’re going to, John Douglas.’

  A few days later Sir John came to his wife; he was pale and trembling.

  ‘I have spoken to him,’ he said.

  ‘Yes— yes, and what did he say?’

  ‘He said that he thought this matter should be brought to the notice of the Prince of Wales.’

  Lady Douglas clasped her hands together in joy.

  ‘But he says we should prepare a document which he can show his brother— setting down all the facts. Put it, in writing.’

  She nodded and he cried in dismay: ‘Don’t you realize what this means. It’s all very well to say these things but to put them into writing I don’t know what this could bring us to.’

  ‘Chicken heart,’ she mocked. ‘Leave it to me.’

  How exciting it was, going back over those meetings, colouring them up, putting constructions on them which would add conviction to her story. For instance had not the Princess said ‘I am going to have a baby.’ Had she not shown inordinate interest in Lady Douglas’s own pregnancy?

  It was easy to adjust a word here and there. It was dangerous when a Princess of Wales lived an immoral life because of the succession. Lady Douglas wrote that she had reminded the Princess of this and that Her Highness had replied that if she were caught she could put it on to the Prince of Wales because she had slept a few nights at Carlton House and he was often so drunk that he could not account for his actions. Then there was the story of Lady Douglas’s calling at Montague House and seeing the baby for the first time. There was Mrs, Fitzgerald’s hasty explanation that he was William Austin and that the Princess had adopted him Oh yes, she had a very plausible story to tell.

  The King was surprised to receive a call from his sons, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex; and as soon as he saw them he knew that something extraordinary had happened.

  Not family trouble again, he hoped. There was no end to it. Both of them were offenders. Sussex marrying that woman when he had no right to and having a court case about it and then its being decided that he wasn’t married. Not that he cared. They had no morals these sons of his. There he was living like a respectable married man with the woman he called his wife and he had a family too. As for the Prince of Wales with his Mrs. Fitzherbert and all that scandal— well, it was better not to think about that!

  ‘An unexpected pleasure, eh, what?’ he said grimly.

  The Prince of Wales felt a momentary wave of pity for his father. How he had aged in the last few years! Those white eyebrows jutting out from the far too red face and the protuberant blue eyes gave him a look of madness. Surely it couldn’t be long before he broke down again. And this matter was not going to help him.

  But it had to be done and while King clung to his rank he would have to accept it.

  Better, thought the Prince, for him to retire gracefully, to abdicate perhaps. And then he would take charge. He admitted to himself that the prospect of power pleased him.

  Should he have kept quiet about this matter? Certainly he could not! It was of the utmost importance to the Crown and at the back of his mind was a solution which pleased him as much as the thought of wearing that crown: to rid of Caroline.

  ‘A very serious matter has come to light,’ he said, ‘and Augustus and I thought you should immediately be acquainted with it.’

  Alarm shot up in the King’s eyes which seemed to become a shade more prominent.

  ‘Your Majesty,’ went on the Prince, with the utmost solemnity, I have here a grave charge against the morality of the Princess of Wales.’

  ‘Eh? What’s this? Eh, what? Caroline you mean? What this? Grave charge, eh?’

  ‘I think that Your Majesty might read this accusation which has been written by Sir John and Lady Douglas. It seems that the Princess of Wales is the mother of an illegitimate child— a son— a boy who now lives with her at Montague House.’

  ‘What? Eh? What’s this? Don’t believe it. Impossible. A boy? Eh? What’s this, eh, eh, eh?’

  ‘If Your Majesty would read this charge.’

  The King took the Douglases’ statement and stared at it. His eyes boggled as he read.

  He stuttered, ‘But this is impossible.’

  ‘Unfortunately, Sire, it appears to be true.’ The Prince then went on to explain that his brother, the Duke of Kent, had been shown a disgusting drawing which Caroline had done of a neighbour Lady Douglas and Sir Sydney Smith. His Majesty would remember the well-known sailor who had served country with such zeal. Sir Sydney had wanted to take action but had been dissuaded from doing so to a scandal.

  ‘Disgusting drawing! What? A drawing you say. What drawing?’

  ‘Of Sir Sydney and Lady Douglas.’ The Prince put his handkerchief to his eyes. ‘Too disgusting, sir, to be talked of, and but Your Majesty may well imagine—’

  He could imagine. Sometimes when he was in one of his lost moods pictures came into his head. Pictures, he thought. Disgusting pictures. They’d have to put a stop to it.

  ‘This matter,’ said the Prince of Wales, ‘is too grave to be dismissed. If it is true that the Princess of Wales has an illegitimate son, some action must be taken — and taken promptly.’

  ‘There must be an enquiry,’ said the King.

  Spencer Perceval rode over to Montague House. ‘I have heard some very grave news,’ he said. ‘There is to be an enquiry into your actions with regard to the boy William Austin.’

  ‘But why should that be grave?’ enquired the Princess. ‘There is nothing wrong with Willikin.’

  ‘The implication is that he is your I own son.’

  ‘I regard him as such.’

  Perceval was faintly exasperated. ‘Your Highness must realize the gravity of this charge. It is being said that he is the result of an indiscretion on your part and that you gave birth to him.’

  ‘That’s a lie, of course.’


  ‘I know it, Your Highness, but we have to convince others. I suggest that Your Highness engages me to work on your behalf.’

  She smiled at him tenderly. ‘Oh, you dear good man.’

  He said gruffly ‘I am a friend and a neighbour. Naturally I wish to do all in my power to refute this wicked slander. I rejoice in my position for as such I can do good service to Your Highness.’

  She would have embraced him but he held her off. The most indiscreet woman in the world! he thought. And even now she does not realize that it is her indiscretions which have led her into this dangerous position. ‘I must ask Your Highness to tell me the truth of this matter. Hold nothing back. Tell me how did the child come to be in this house?’

  Caroline told him of her discovery of the Austins, how he himself had found work for the child’s father, how before he was born his mother had promised him to her and how he had come to her a few weeks after he was born.

  Perceval nodded, well satisfied.

  ‘We have a good case,’ he said. ‘We need one. But I don’t think we are going to have any difficulty in proving these charges false. You have been very indiscreet, Your Highness; and I do beg of you to curb your tongue. A word in the wrong place can ruin you. I beg of you remember that.’

  ‘I have always been told that I talk too much and without thinking.’

  ‘I trust Your Highness will remember the truth of that.’

  ‘I shall do my best. And I think it’s— noble of you to help me. You know, don’t you, that the Prince will not be very pleased with you because I believe my beloved husband is hoping to prove me guilty. He can have as many love affairs as he pleases— and he’d grudge me just one.’

  Perceval sighed. What was the use of begging for discretion?

  ‘We must do what we can,’ he said sternly, ‘and remember the gravity of the situation.’

  The Queen was delighted; the Princesses giggled together. It certainly added a spice to life when such dramatic events took place in the family. And all centred round the Prince of Wales as was usually the case.

  ‘So,’ said Sophia, ‘there is to be an investigation.’