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‘I think you are very handsome.’

‘You think my looks are handsome, but that my speech is forward and

immodest and just what a princess’s should not be?’

‘I think that only sweet words could flow from such lips.’

‘Oh, what a charming compliment. I do believe, John Thomas Stanley, that

you have fallen in love with me. Oh, don’t deny it. It is all very right and proper, for if my sister has a lover, why should not I?’

John Stanley was overcome with dismay and pleasure. The Princess Caroline

was not only the most beautiful girl he had ever met, she was the most unusual.

Her conduct was noticed.

What can one do with such a girl?
sighed her mother to herself.
She is wild—

like all of them. We can only pray that she is not too wild.

Her father promised himself that he would reprimand her later, but she would

be sad missing Charlotte, so let her amuse herself a little on Charlotte’s wedding day.

Madame de Hertzfeldt was asking herself how much like her brothers

Caroline might be and what was the right treatment to mete out to such a girl. A

great responsibility rested on her guardians she felt sure. She must choose an

opportunity to speak to the Duke about his younger daughter when matters of

state were less burdensome.

So Caroline flirted openly with John Thomas Stanley; and when it was

necessary to say goodbye to Charlotte the young man did much to reconcile her to

the parting.

————————

‘What I shall envy Charlotte most,’ declared Caroline to the long suffering

Baroness de Bode, ‘will be her children. Oh, Baroness, how I long to have a

child.’

The Baroness folded her hands together and looked up to the ceiling.

‘Now Baroness, what is wrong with that?’

‘It is an immodest subject.’

‘Nonsense. How could the world go on without children?’ ‘It is immodest for

a young girl to— to—’

‘To talk of adding to the coming generations? But surely that would be a

benefit to mankind. Admit it, Baroness.’

‘Your Highness, I do not know what will become of you. I tremble to think.’

‘Then you should think more, Madam, and it would, with practice, become

less of an effort. That might cure the trembling. A little baby— a dear little baby

— ! What a miracle! When shall I have a husband? How tiresome, that one must

have a husband before one can have a baby, for do you know, Baroness, I think I

should almost prefer the latter to the former.’

The Baroness put her fingers to her ears.

‘Pray remove your fingers,’ cried Caroline. I promise you I will no longer

assault your ears. Instead I shall go to see my children.’

Caroline flounced out of the schoolroom, leaving the Baroness murmuring to

herself:
Should I speak to the Duchess? But of what use? It will have to be to
Madame de Hertzfeldt. And what can one expect in a household when the wife

takes second place to the mistress?

Meanwhile Caroline rode out of the palace. She should have taken a groom

with her, but she had no intention of doing so. First of all she would call on the newest arrival— a baby boy three weeks old. He had been a little sickly at birth

and was improving now. She had ordered the cooks to send food to the

household, for if the baby were to thrive, the mother must be well fed.

There he was in his crib. She lifted him out
. I think he knows me. Look, he is
smiling.

She was happy, sitting in the old wooden rocking chair holding the baby. How

they adored her, these cottage people. They called her ‘Good Princess Caroline’.

Good,
she thought,
for doing what I want. How easy it is to be good.

She told the mother that food would arrive the following day and she would

see that the baby was properly clothed. And after that she went on to see her next protégé. The people cheered her as she rode through the town They had all heard

stories of her love for children and how households containing them benefited.

Any mother in distress only had to ask help from Princess Caroline and it came—

not as they had been accustomed to receiving help from royalty, not an

impersonal steward distributing a few comforts at Christmas-time, but with

genuine interest. It did one good, many had said, to see the Princess Caroline

come into a humble room and take a child upon her knees.

She never did so without saying to herself ‘Oh, if only I had a child of my

own!’

Caroline cannot go to the Ball

THE months flew by— one year, two years. There was little news from

Charlotte, except that she had given birth to a child. Lucky Charlotte!

‘When will there be a suitor for me?’ Caroline demanded not only of the

Baroness de Bode but of her older governess, Baroness von Münster.

‘When the time is ripe your parents will answer that question,’ replied the

Baroness von Münster.

‘Then I pray it may be soon,’ replied Caroline, and was silent, for she dare not

bait the elderly Baroness as she did poor Madame de Bode.

To the latter she remarked that if her parents did not provide a husband for her

soon she would have to find one for herself.

John Thomas Stanley was no longer at the Court. In any case she had not been

seriously concerned with him. She began to look about her. There was the young

Count Walmoden who had royal blood in his veins because his grandmother had

been the famous mistress of George II of England. And there was another

descendant of George II, the Count von Schulemberg, who was reputed to be very

rich indeed, having inherited some of the vast wealth which Ermengarda von

Schulemberg, Duchess of Kendal, had amassed during her long reign as the

king’s favourite.

Would such young men be considered suitable consorts? Of course not. How

exasperating to be a Princess and have to wait until a husband was chosen for

one! If she were a commoner— not like the people in the cottages, of course, but

a Baroness like Madame de Bode— she could go to the ball next week and

perhaps there meet a man, fall in love, marry and have children. What bliss!

The Baroness de Bode decided that she must really speak to someone about

Princess Caroline and that meant of course speaking to Madame de Hertzfeldt.

The Duchess was too vague; moreover she was English and somewhat at odds

with her children’s governesses because she was constantly reiterating that they

should be educated in the English way, which seemed absurd. How could the

Princess be educated in the English manner without English tutors? And of what

use would such an education be since she was German? And what, the Baroness

asked herself, was the English method of education? If the Duchess was an

example of it, then, for the sake of the Princess, she should be educated as a

German.

What a household, where one must speak to the father’s mistress rather than

the mother of one’s charge! But there was no help for it and no matter how

resentful a good and somewhat puritanical woman like the Baroness de Bode felt

when contemplating the situation, in the presence of Madame de Hertzfeldt she

could have nothing but respect for that lady.

She was granted an audience immediately, for Madame de Hertzfeldt

considered the bringing up of the Duke’s daughter a matter of great importance.

‘I am disturbed, Madam, by the Princess Caroline,’ began the Baroness.

Madame de Hertzfeldt sighed. Were they not all disturbed by the royal

children? ‘She speaks constantly of marriage— men and children.’

‘It has been so since the Princess Charlotte married?’

‘Yes, Madam.’

‘She is now approaching the age her sister was when she married.’

‘That’s true, Madam, and I am a little fearful. I was wondering whether her

freedom should be restricted a little.”

Madame de Hertzfeldt was thoughtful. One would have to go very carefully.

She said: ‘Thank you, Baroness. This is a matter of some importance. I will speak of it to the Duchess.’

The Baroness retired, knowing that the admirable Madame de Hertzfeldt

would speak to the Duke and together they would decide what should be done;

then they would give the Duchess her instructions as to what orders she was to

make known to the Princess’s governess.

It was, of course, admitted the Baroness, the discretion one would have

expected from Madame de Hertzfeldt and this discretion was no doubt the reason

why she reigned supreme in the Court of Brunswick.

————————

‘Not go to the ball!’ cried Caroline, her eyes flashing. ‘And why, pray?’

‘Because,’ replied the Baroness, ‘it is decided that you shall not go. You are

too young as yet to go to balls.’

‘I— too young— when I have been at balls since before Charlotte’s marriage.

Am I growing younger then, Madam, that I have suddenly become too young?’

The Baroness said that there was no point in discussing the matter further for

the orders had come to her and she had obeyed them.

‘So my mother has decided this, has she?’

‘It has been decided,’ replied the Baroness.

‘Stop talking like a silly old oracle. I tell you I will go to the ball— I will— I will!’

When Caroline talked like that she was really alarming; her eyes seemed to

grow black and her face flushed scarlet.

There was nothing the Baroness could do but leave her.

————————

Caroline lay on her bed biting her fists in fury. ‘I must go to the ball,’ she

murmured. ‘Perhaps tonight will be the most important night in my life. Perhaps

tonight I shall meet my lover. I will go to the ball. I will. Why should they stop me? There is Charlotte— married at sixteen. And I am nearly sixteen and not

allowed to go to the ball. I won’t have it. I won’t.’

But what could she do? The realization of the futility of this increased her

anger.
I have no ball dress? Nonsense. I’d wear an old one. I’d go in as

Aphrodite. I’d go as anybody—

The laughter started to bubble up, uncontrollable laughter. Imagine her

entering the ballroom as Aphrodite. She would demand they announce her. ‘My

lords and ladies, the Princess Caroline is unable to attend tyranny and in her place Aphrodite has risen from the sea— to attend the ball.’

And there she would be— stark naked. Imagine her mother’s face!

Oh, my dear, how shocked they will be at the English Court if they hear of

this!’

And why? she would like to know. Cousin George, Prince of Wales, was

rather a shocking young man himself. He, too, chafed against restriction. How

frustrating parents were! How they spoilt their children’s lives!

No, even she could not do such a thing. Her invention would not desert her.

She would think of a way of punishing them for not allowing her to the ball.

————————

From her window Caroline saw the had lined the streets to see the guests

arrive in their gowns and glittering jewels. One of the most elaborate balls ever given at the Ducal Palace and the Princess Caroline not there to enjoy it!

She pictured her father and mother at the head of the great staircase receiving

their guests. Deep curtsies; sweeping bows; and in command— Madame de

Hertzfeldt, whom everyone would know was the
real
hostess; and if they wanted any favours it was to the mistress they must go, not to the wife.

And she, Caroline, should have been there, standing beside her parents,

receiving the bows and curtsies— homage due to the daughter of the house.

None of the children would be there. She and Frederick William were the only

ones who could be, and Frederick William certainly was a little young.

‘But I am sixteen,’ she cried. ‘It is cruel and wicked to stop me from going to

the ball. And I’ll make them sorry for this.’

She started to laugh, contemplating the plan which had been in her mind all

day. She had felt it was far more workable than the Aphrodite one and would

cause them even more distress. And serve them right!

————————

Her father would now be opening the ball. Now was the moment. She

undressed, flinging her clothes about the room; then she took a pot of paste from her cupboard and smeared it over her face. The effect made her chuckle. It was

horrible, It made her look like a ghost. She raised her eyes in an expression of

agony. Wonderful! She looked like a girl about to breathe her last.

She got into bed and began to scream.