Queen in Waiting: (Georgian Series) (38 page)

Townsend was saying: ‘I greatly fear that England will be drawn into war. The people of this country do not want war. They hate war. It means to them death and taxation… and no gain. What gain would there be for us in war? Of course there might be some gain to Hanover. But the people of this country can hardly be expected to make sacrifices for Hanover.’

‘They should not be asked to,’ replied Caroline quickly.

Townsend drew a deep breath. Were those the Prince’s views? he wondered.

Caroline seemed to sense his thoughts for she added: ‘The Prince and I vould be strongly against this country making the sacrifice for Hanover. Hanover cannot expect it.’

‘Hanover does expect. The King and his German ministers are of the opinion that England and Hanover should stand as one.’

‘That,’ said Caroline with a laugh, ‘is a Hanoverian view and not, I believe an English one.’

‘Your Highness is right. But…’

‘A strong opposition in England vould mean that this could not be.’

‘It is the wish of the King and many of his Hanoverian ministers. But… what of the Prince?’

‘I believe the Prince, nay I am sure the Prince vould not agree to his father. My lord, you vill know that there is hardly von matter on vich they agree. And certainly it vould not be this von.’

Townsend was alert. If he could get the Prince of Wales to support him, if here with the Prince and Princess he could build up a strong opposition to those who could put Hanover before England, he might get his way
and
remain in office.

‘If I could speak to the Prince…’

‘He vill be delighted to give you von audience.’

‘And Your Highness will be present?’

Caroline smiled. This was what she had always wanted. She would prepare the Prince who would be only too eager to intrigue against his father. Nothing would delight him more; and it would not be difficult for her to guide him along the way she wanted him to go.

She noticed that the Count von Bothmer was talking to Lord Hervey. The German made a point of attending any gathering at which she or the Prince was present. The King should have chosen a less obvious spy. But they must be careful. If the King knew that the Prime Minister was conferring with her and the Prince, surely he would realize the need for returning to England at once.

She said: ‘I vould like to hear some singing. Mrs Bellenden has the voice
très charmante.
Mrs Howard, I pray you tell Mrs Bellenden I vould hear her sing. And perhaps aftervards Lord Hervey would recite to us some of his verses.’

Townsend bowed and said he would acquaint Lord Hervey with Her Highness’s wishes.

He understood perfectly why she had interrupted their conversation. Bothmer would undoubtedly report what he had seen to his master.

The Prime Minister was uneasy. The Prince of Wales could have little power while his father lived. But of course the King was not a young man – and in the political field it was often necessary to take risks.

The Prince, watching Mary Bellenden sing, thought: This is the most beautiful girl at court!

She had spirit… too much spirit. He would have preferred her docile, eager, very honoured to be noticed by the Prince of Wales.

Alas, she was not so. Sometimes her eyes flashed scornfully and he wondered why he pursued her. She was tall and slender – not plump and rounded. She was very English.

It is the English I love best in the world, thought George Augustus, as though repeating a lesson.

In the streets people sang verses about her. The beautiful Mary Bellenden and the fair Molly Lepel were rivals for beauty.
But give him Mary; and it would be right and proper that either one of the reigning beauties should be his mistress. Could she not see that?

He hummed under his breath a song he had heard one of his gentlemen singing:

‘What pranks are played behind the scenes,

And who at court the belle?

Some swear it is the Bellenden.

And others say Lepel.’

I say the Bellenden! he thought.

He had betrayed his feelings for her and she was not the only one who was aware of them. It was undignified that the Prince of Wales’s desires should go unsatisfied.

He had always believed, though, that in time she would be his mistress. She was no prude, so why delay? He could only think that like most of the people at court she wanted something. And what could she want but money?

He knew she had her financial difficulties like most extravagant young ladies, for he had heard her complain of bills. He must therefore take an opportunity of letting her see that if she would become his mistress she would have so much money that she need never be bothered by bills… while she continued to please him.

Mary had finished singing and had gone to sit in an alcove in the pavilion with Margaret Meadows and Mrs Clayton.

The Prince made his way by degrees to her corner, stopping to chat on the way, believing that by so doing he disguised his intention of singling out Mary.

When he reached the table at which she sat he beamed at the three of them.

‘It vos von beautiful song,’ he said.

He sat down and took a purse from his pocket which he put on the table. The three stared at it in surprise. He emptied it of its guineas and began to count them.

‘It seems I much money haf,’ he said with a smile, and gathering up the money put it back in the purse, jingling it while he smiled at Mary.

Mary however was looking beyond him as though she was quite unaware of what he was doing.

Molly Lepel had begun to sing at the Princess’s request; there was silence at the table while the Prince continued to look expectantly at Mary; and Mary stared stonily ahead.

The Prince came to the Princess’s apartments, where she was resting on her bed. He waved away her women and, going to the bed, kissed her.

‘It is goot that you rest,’ he said. ‘And how are you, my tear?’

‘Vell, but shall be glad when the child comes. It is long waiting.’

‘You always have the difficult time. You are certain you have the right time? You were wrong before, remember.’

‘I’m sure of it. Cowper and Clayton have been bothering me. And Mrs Howard too.’

The Prince looked shocked at the mention of Henrietta.

‘Oh, they serve me veil. They think I should have the doctor instead of the midvife.’

‘Instead of the midvife! A man! You could not, Caroline.’

‘No, I could not. They say that in France royal ladies have
accoucheurs
instead of midvives. They say they have the skill… and it is safer. But I shall have the midvife. I vould not vish for Sir David Hamilton to attend me.’

‘I should not vish either.’

‘I must scold these ladies.’

‘They do it for your good, but scold.’

‘I feel vell… very veil. And I vish to speak to you about the Prime Minister.’

‘Tell me.’

‘He vishes an audience. I believe he vould rather serve you than the King.’

The Prince’s eyes gleamed with pleasure.

‘Of course you vill say ve must be careful,’ she said warningly.

‘Oh, ve must be careful.’

‘If the King hears that the Prime Minister talks business vith you he vill angry be. He vill come back from Hanover…
tout de suite
.’

The Prince nodded; but there was triumph in his eyes.

‘The weeks at Hampton have been so
wunderbar
.’

The Prince nodded.

‘It has done me so much goot to see you. You have shown them what a King you vill be.’

‘And you a Queen.’

She put her hands on her stomach. ‘Oh, I must bear the children… That is for the vomen.’

‘But I vould always talk to you, Caroline. There is no von else I vould talk to as I do to you.’

‘You are so goot to me. Ve shall be careful with Townsend. Should ve send for him now? I vill dress and we can receive him in the Queen’s gallery. Vould you give your consent to this?’

The Prince nodded eagerly.

‘I believe the King is trying to make England declare var. Do you think that will be goot for England? Goot for Hanover yes, but vill it be goot for England? The people do not vant it. Do you think it would be goot for England to declare var vhile you are the Guardian of the Realm?’

‘It would be bad. I vould not allow it.’

‘I thought you vould not. I vill summon my women and join you in the Queen’s gallery. I vill have vord sent to Townsend that he is to come there.’

Caroline, in a long robe which did its best to disguise her advanced state of pregnancy, walked up and down the gallery between the Prince and the Prime Minister.

Townsend was saying: ‘The English will never willingly go to war for the sake of Hanover.’

‘They must never do so,’ replied the Prince.

‘I am glad of Your Highness’s support,’ replied Townsend, ‘for the Cabinet are of your opinion. It was against my advice that we sent a squadron to the Baltic. This was said to protect our trade but our trade was in no real need of protection. It was meant to protect Bremen and Verden… for the sake of Hanover.’

‘Hanover must fight her own battles,’ said the Prince.

‘The King does not think so.’

‘The King is von fool,’ retorted the Prince.

Both Caroline and the Prime Minister lowered their eyes.

‘I repeat… von fool,’ went on George Augustus. ‘He must be to prefer Hanover to England. But then he is not English… as I am…’

‘As ve both are,’ added the Princess.

The Prince smiled across at her. ‘Yes, all things English ve love.’

‘There are new propositions from Hanover,’ said Townsend. ‘I do not agree with them and I should like to know that I have Your Highness’s support in refusing them.’

‘You have my support if it is for England’s goot. I vould never put Hanover before England.’

‘Veil spoken,’ murmured Caroline; and again he smiled at her.

‘Denmark offers Bremen and Verden to Hanover on the condition that England declares war on Sweden and pays to Denmark £150,000.’

‘And vat goot vill this bring to Englandt?’ asked the Prince excitedly.

‘No good to England, but Hanover will get Bremen and Verden, of course.’

‘And Englandt would be at var with Sveden and Russia,’ added Caroline quietly.

‘It shall not be!’ cried the Prince, clenching his fist while the veins at his temples became swollen.

‘I am delighted to have Your Majesty’s support in this as I intend to place Stanhope’s proposals before the Cabinet. I can assure you they will be rejected… particularly in view of the fact that we have Your Highness’s support.’

The Prince was delighted. When the Prime Minister consulted him he was truly playing the King.

The golden September days were passing. Each day Caroline wondered whether there would be news of the King’s return. But he stayed on in Hanover and left them free to enjoy the blessing of his absence.

To the Prince’s great joy, Townsend, with whom he was now on excellent terms, suggested that he make a tour of the countryside. He had seen little of England, except during his journey from the coast to London on his arrival, and the English liked to see their sovereigns.

Townsend was already talking to him as though he were the King and he was thinking of himself as such.

The Prince immediately began making his preparations.

‘There is but von thing that grieves me,’ he said. ‘You, my tear, vill not come vith me.’

‘You vill manage very veil on your own,’ Caroline told him.

‘It vould have been happier for me if I could have had my tear vife beside me.’

‘I shall be thinking of you… all the time. And you see I am in no condition to come vith you.’

‘Take care of yourself. I vill give Mrs Howard very special instructions.’

‘You need not. She is the best of vomen.’

The Prince smiled at her gratefully. It seemed there was nothing to spoil his pleasure.

And what joy it was to travel through the countryside of Hampshire, Sussex and Kent where the people lined the roads to cheer him as he rode by and he told himself and his attendants that he would never tire of smiling for the English people.

To signal his approach bonfires were lighted all along his route and girls with flowers and leaves came out to dance in his path. At Portsmouth he was entertained at military as well as naval reviews. He went aboard the finest of ships and guns were fired in his honour.

His eyes shining with sentiment, he told those who welcomed him that he had never been so happy in his life. He loved England; he loved the English people; he was English; he would not have it otherwise. Every drop of blood in his veins was English; he had inherited it through his grandmother.

He would never willingly leave England; the best and lovingest people in the world were the English.

He loved the English and the English loved him.

He was different from his dour old father, said the people; let that old fellow stay in Germany with his Maypole and Elephant, let him stuff himself with sausages and sauerkraut. His son was quite different. He was English, although he spoke with an atrocious German accent. He was one of them because he was determined to be.

So the bonfires were lighted; and the people sang and danced;
and the theme of the day was ‘God Bless the Prince of Wales’.

October was well advanced by the time he returned in triumph to Hampton. He found Caroline delighted to see him, eager to hear of his triumphs; but although she was more heavily pregnant than ever, there was no sign that her confinement was imminent.

Bothmer sat in his apartments writing to the King, to Bernstorff and to Robethon.

‘The Prince,’ he wrote, ‘has become the King. The Prime Minister confers with him. Townsend has in fact become his man. His Highness has just returned to Hampton from a royal progress through Hampshire, Kent and Sussex. He is treated as the ruler of the realm.’

Caroline was delighted and yet apprehensive. The more popular the Prince became the more determined the King would be to suppress him. Their only hope to go on living this delightful existence was for the King to discover that he loved Hanover so much he would stay there.