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behaviour, he understood it.

Why should this fat Prince find her so repulsive when Major Ivon Töbingen

had loved her so much?

Life was cruel to princesses, but one thing she had learned and that was that

self-pity was of no use to anyone. She had to face them all at dinner— the dinner to celebrate her arrival— when the Prince would entertain all those who had

brought her to England.

There was only one course open to a woman of her nature, and that was to

show them that she did not care for their opinion, not even her husband’s.

She might have known what to expect. Had he not insulted her before he had

met her by appointing his mistress a lady of her bedchamber?

She was not quite sure afterwards what happened at that dinner. All she was

aware of were the disgusted looks of the Prince, the shocked ones of Lord

Malmesbury and the delight of Lady Jersey which she scarcely took the trouble to

hide. At least they should discover that she was not a meek nonentity. If they were going to be unpleasant to her, she would treat them in the same way.

She accused Lady Jersey— in a mischievous way— of being the Prince’s

mistress.

She laughed loudly and continuously; she chattered in her own brand of

French which was very different from the elegant manner in which the Prince

expressed himself in that language. And as she drank and ate without restraint, her laughter grew louder, her comments more risqué. The company was half amused,

half horrified. The Prince alone felt no amusement, only dread.

And in the midst of her banter she had suddenly felt so lonely. She had

wanted this man who was to be her husband to be interested in her and at least to give her a chance to please him. She thought of the children she had always

dreamed of having. And this man would be their father. Why should he prefer that

old woman— the mother of all those children— to the young woman who was his

wife? She had youth‚ she was not as unattractive as he believed her to be. Her hair was quite lovely and she had heard that he greatly admired beautiful hair. It was, someone had said, Mrs Fitzherbert’s cascades of bright curls and waves which

had first attracted him to her.

And that woman sitting there now saying little but unable to hide her smirks

of satisfaction, had tried to make her wear a turban which would have hidden her

beautiful hair

. On impulse she removed the combs from her hair and it fell

about her shoulders.

There was silence at the table. The Prince looked at her in astonishment

Is the woman mad?
he was thinking.
My God, what have I done to be

burdened with such a creature
?

Lord Malmesbury was looking embarrassed. He was upset which meant of

course that she had done the wrong thing again. She laughed louder than ever, she made some crude jest. They were talking together, ignoring her. She did not need

the sad looks of Lord Malmesbury, the furtive pleasure of Lady Jersey, the

scarcely veiled horror of the Prince to tell her that she was a dismal failure.

When her maids helped her to disrobe that night, she continued her wild

chatter, but when she was alone, she lay quietly thinking of the future

What will become of me?
she wondered. There was no point in pretending to be defiant in the darkness of her room. She was afraid; she had to remind herself that she was a Brunswick lion and they never showed fear.

‘He hates me,’ she whispered. ‘Why, I did not expect him to love me— so

soon. But he hates me. I disgusted him— So much that he could not hide it.

Suppose he refuses to marry me? Nothing would please me more!’

Then she pictured her return to Brunswick— defeated, the Princess who

was sent on approval and found unacceptable!

She imagined her mother’s diatribes which would go on and on for the rest

of her life, for no other Prince would want to marry a Princess who had been

rejected by the Prince of Wales. There was her dearest Töbingen. Oh lucky people

who were not royal and free to marry where they loved!

But whatever the next few days held for her, she must face it. And there was

only one way she knew how to act. It was how she had acted tonight. She had

been coarse, vulgar, ribald, mocking, indifferent to their scorn. It made dear Lord Malmesbury sad.

But what can I do?
she asked herself.
What other way is there?

She knew of none

————————

The Queen received Lady Jersey in private.

It was a difficult position, mused the Queen, for she had no wish to encourage

immorality in the court; and the Prince’s love affairs were most public. But Lady Jersey, reasoned the Queen, was doing the country a service. She had separated

the Prince from Mrs Fitzherbert and so made a marriage possible for him, for

while he continued with that woman he would never have married because she

convinced him that she was his wife. Sometimes, the Queen reminded herself it

was necessary to waive one’s principles for the good of the country.

Lady Jersey’s manners were impeccable. She swept a deep respectful curtsey

and the Queen signed for her to rise.

‘Pray be seated, Lady Jersey’

Lady Jersey humbly thanked Her Majesty and waited for the questions.

‘You have recently come from the Princess Caroline. Tell me, how is she?’

‘Your Majesty, I greatly fear

‘ Lady Jersey stopped herself.

The Queen said graciously: ‘You may proceed.’

‘Your Majesty will think me presumptuous but because Your Majesty asks

for truth—’ .

‘Yes, yes. I want the truth.’

‘I fear Her Highness has not been bred for the high honour for which she has

been brought to England.’

‘Tell me what happened.’

Lady Jersey told, stressing the gaucherie, the uncouth manners, the effect her

appearance had on the Prince, his horror.

‘Do you think he may refuse to go on with the marriage?’

‘Oh, but he must go on with it now, Your Majesty. Or perhaps I am wrong,

but—’

‘If he refused to go through the ceremony, he could do so.’

Lady Jersey was secretly alarmed. She knew how the Queen’s mind was

working. It was not too late for him to give up Caroline of Brunswick and take

Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Never! thought Lady Jersey. Caroline might not suit the Prince but she suited

her purposes perfectly.

‘It is for him to say,’ went on the Queen triumphantly.

‘Madam, what are your instructions regarding the Princess?’

‘Watch her. If she writes to her home, I should like to see the letters before

they are sent. I should like to have reports of her conversation. I gather she is a very indiscreet young woman.’

‘Alas, Your Majesty that’s very true.’

‘We shall see what happens. In the meantime keep me informed. And if the

opportunity arises to advise the Prince, you may be able to make him aware that it is not yet too late.’

Lady Jersey said that it was her great pleasure to serve Her Majesty.

————————

The Prince paced up and down his silk-lined drawing room and declared: ‘I

cannot marry the woman. The very thought of it makes me ill.’

Lady Jersey looked at him sadly. ‘You could never draw back now.’

‘Why not? Why should I not?’

‘The proxy ceremony has taken place.’

‘A pox on the proxy ceremony!
I
have not made any promises to the woman.’

‘It would be an international incident if she were sent home now.’

‘Little Brunswick! Need we fear that petty little place?’

‘There are your debts.’

‘I would take another wife if necessary, but not this one.’

Lady Jersey’s eyes narrowed. Another wife? The alluring Louise. It was just

what the Queen was hoping for. Her own niece to form an alliance with her— the

wives of the King and the Prince would rule together. The poor, kind, weak-

minded King whose mind often went wandering and the pleasure loving Prince of

Wales to be ruled by the ladies of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. And what of Lady

Jersey? How would an attractive young wife deal with a mistress who for all her

charms was an ageing woman?

She knew the Prince. If he succeeded in throwing off Caroline, he would think

her successor desirable and beautiful merely because of the comparison.

My God,
she thought,
what a trial I have to keep my place! Did Fitzherbert go
through all this?

But she was wily and she enjoyed the game really. It was a great pleasure to

work with the Queen— or to allow the Queen to think she was working with her

— when all the time she was playing her own game.

Then she said: ‘And what of the people?’

‘The people. What have they to do with my marriage?’

‘Everything that concerns their future King concerns the people. They are

already showing sympathy for the Princess.’

‘Why should they?’

‘You know what the people are. They imagine someone is in distress and out

comes the sympathy. I think that if you sent Caroline home you would make her

into a martyr and in doing so you would become very unpopular.’

That startled him. He longed to be popular. He often thought of the old days

when he had been Prince Charming and so handsome, the days before he grew so

fat. Everywhere he went the people had cheered him. He longed for a return of

that popularity.

Lady Jersey smiled secretly and she was glad: he would refuse to marry the

girl and then they could bring Louise over.

‘I feel I cannot go on with it.’

The Queen put in: ‘You know, George, it is for you to say whether you can

marry this Princess or not.’

‘I cannot marry her,’ said the Prince.

‘The King will tell you that it is for you to say,’ reiterated the Queen

The King nodded. ‘No one can make you marry if you do not wish to. But you

have to consider the reason for the proposed marriage. It is a condition of the

Parliament, eh, what? No marriage— no payment of debts. What are you going to

do then, eh? Creditors getting impatient? They’ll be in Carlton House if we say no marriage. It will only take that.’

‘I cannot marry her. I cannot.’ The Prince was striking his forehead

dramatically. But the thought of those debts, the total of which he dared not

contemplate, and the effect his jilting of the Princess would have on the people, made him realize that there was no other way out.

He talked to his friends. He could not stop talking. They all knew of the

revulsion the Princess Caroline aroused in him and in the clubs the betting against the marriage’s taking place was high.

‘He won’t do it, they said. ‘He can’t face it.’

And the Prince said to himself, ‘Can I face marrying her? Can I face not

marrying her?’

There was one, of course, who might have decided for him. He thought of her

often. Maria. Why had she not understood that he had not meant it when he had

said he would not see her again? She should have wept and stormed. It was what

he had expected. Instead, that silence, and then her leaving the country.

But she was back now. She was at Marble Hill. She was his sweet lass of

Richmond Hill as she had been in-the old days— and always would be.

He could have talked to Maria as he never could to Lady Jersey. He had

never loved Frances Jersey. She had fascinated him— still did to a certain extent

— but it was Maria he wanted.

She had struck the right note. He would go through with this marriage for he

realized how right she was.

The people would be against him if he treated Caroline so churlishly.

He looked grim. He could see that there was nothing to be done but marriage

and yet— Who knew, some miracle might happen.

————————

Caroline lifted her eyes to the protuberant ones of her uncle. There at least she saw kindness.

‘Welcome to England, my dear,’ he said in German, which was comforting.

‘We are happy that you are joining the family.’

She could have hugged him and almost did— until she remembered that he

was the King. This was the brother of whom her mother had talked so often—

George who had a kind heart and addled head.

And now the Queen. Caroline was startled by the venom in the face of the

little woman who was Queen of England.
She is ugly
, thought Caroline,
and they
were right when they said I should beware of her, for she hates me.

She was bidding her welcome in English but that was no welcome. Queen

Charlotte had no friendliness, no warmth to offer the stranger. Caroline had come without her blessing and she had no intention of pretending that it was otherwise.

And there were the Princesses who quite clearly took their cue from their

mother.

This is my new family,
thought Caroline.

————————

The Prince called on the King and Queen to express his feelings forcibly.

‘The thought of marriage with Caroline fills me with horror,’ he declared.

‘She is the most unattractive woman I ever saw.’

‘She seems a pleasant sort of young woman,’ said the King. ‘I thought she

was good looking— in a way. Surely you exaggerate, eh, what?’

The Queen watched her husband and son slyly. The Prince was really

distressed, there was no doubt about that.

He sent for his phaeton and rode out. He drove wildly and the horses were

heading for Richmond.

————————

Miss Pigot saw the well-known phaeton. ‘Maria,’ she called, ‘he has come.