Queen in Waiting - Plaidy Jean. Страница 63

"He's my grandson. He has his duties."

"I beg of you ..."

"You waste your time."

"Have you no heart ... no feelings?"

"No."

"Can't you understand how a parent feels towards a child...."

He yawned again, this time significantly. He understood very well how he felt towards his son. He despised the fellow; in fact there were times when if he were a more violent man he might have hated him.

"Frederick remains in Hanover," he said.

"I see it is no use appealing to you," she retorted; and for once her calm deserted her. She could not help it. She thought

of the birth of Fritzchen and how happy she had been; what plans she had made for his future; and how, even when this monster had given the order that he was to remain in Hanover, she had not really believed he would stay there for more than a few months.

*'He must learn to rule," said George.

"As you do?" she cried. "You do not rulel Your German friends rule ... Bernstorff, Bothmer and Robethon, helped by Townsend, Walpole and Stanhope. These are the men who rule England ... and you are content to let them do so. Yet Fritzchen with such an example before him must stay in Hanover to learn to rule. What do you think he is doing in Hanover ... learning to rule like his grandfather does?"

The King was astonished; so was Caroline.

In moments of stress, all one's restraint fell away.

"You get too excited," said the King.

"Your Majesty's pardon."

The King nodded his head and Caroline was dismissed.

She went slowly to her own apartments. What a fool I was! she thought. He'll hate me now. I've shown my true feelings.

There was no point in pretending to be a docile wife and daughter-in-law now she had shown her true feelings. She would come out in the open and if she could not have her son, at least she would have her separate court; she and George Augustus would have their own friends, men of influence; so there would be the court of the Prince of Wales as well as the King's. And the Prince of Wales's Court would be that to which all men of intellect would want to belong.

She would send for Leibniz. But the King would not allow him to come. Still, she would attempt to get him over. Perhaps if the King refused to let her have Fritzchen he would give her her old friend as a consolation. As if George would care about consolation!

Still, it was open warfare from now on.

George was thinking of her, which would have surprised her: "Damn fine woman. A pity she's that fool's wife. He can't appreciate her. If she wasn't ... Oh, well, all women are alike in the dark. She's a she-devil too. We'll have to watch

her. George Augustus is nothing but a fool—but not that

one.

The whole Court was interested in the battle for Argyll.

*'He shall be dismissed from the Prince's household," said the King.

*'I only shall decide whom I keep in my household," said the Prince.

Caroline was beside her husband in this. "We will stand firm," she told him. "He must be shown that we demand some consideration."

Her petition that Leibniz be allowed to come to England was met by a blank refusal from the King.

"We don't want these intellectual men here. There are enough of them in England already. Besides he has work to do there."

Caroline was now firmly ranged against the King and this brought her closer to her husband. To quarrel with his father had always been a favourite pleasure of the Prince's and in the past it had been Caroline who restrained him. It was different now. She could not forgive George for separating her from Fritzchen in the first place and refusing Leibniz permission to come to England in the second.

"He cannot force you to dismiss Argyll," said Caroline. "All you have to do is stand firm. You have friends."

"Do you think they'll stand with us against the King?"

Caroline nodded.

"Who?"

"Mr. Prime Minister."

"Townsend! "

"He is playing for safety. He thinks of the time George II is on the throne."

Contemplating such a time always gave George Augustus the greatest pleasure.

"Ah, he is von clever man, this Townsend."

"And ve vill be clever too."

"I think I am, my tear."

She smiled at him. It would always be so. She must learn to

accept the fact that she was the one who made the decisions and he was the one who thought they were his.

*'Yes, of course you are. I think the King is very foolish. He does not govern. He dreams of Hanover ven he has this great country. He is fou."

"Let him be, Caroline. Let him be. All the better for me the more fou he is, eh?"

**A11 the better," she agreed. "So we'll keep Argyll, just to show him that if he keeps our son from us at least we can choose our own servants."

**I vill this show him," cried the Prince.

George felt more at ease discussing this family disagreement with his German ministers than his English ones. He would never be sure of the English; and he fancied his Prime Minister while not exactly supporting the Prince was trying hard not to offend him. There were three whom he could trust: BernstorfE, Bothmer and Robethon. His own countrymen on whose loyalty he could rely.

Bernstorff had worked for his father when he was in the employ of the Duke of Celle and it was largely due to him that George's marriage with Sophia Dorothea had come about. True, that marriage had been disastrous and George now wished it had never taken place, but at the time it had been the wish of George's father that it should, and it had been a most advantageous match ... financially. That Sophia Dorothea was a harlot whom he had been forced to put away was no fault of Bernstorff's. And when the Duke of Celle had died, after keeping an eye on his affairs for the benefit of Hanover, of course, it had seemed natural that Bernstorff should openly serve the House of Hanover which had been his real master for so many years. Bernstorff's fortunes were bound up in those of George I; therefore he could be trusted.

Then there was Count Hans Caspar von Bothmer; he had been very useful as George's ambassador at St. James's before his accession and it was due to his efficiency and diplomacy that George's arrival in England had come about so peacefully. Now he was able to advise his master on foreign affairs.

Jean de Robethon was a quiet man. A Huguenot who had found refuge in the German court, he was ready to serve efficiently behind the scenes. He never sought the limelight, but he was aware of what an important part he played—and so was George.

To these three the King now turned in this quarrel with his son, for as he said he did not trust the English. They were out for gain. By God, he thought, I never knew such men for looking after their own pockets. He didn't trust them; while they bowed to him and swore allegiance they were weighing up how much longer he was likely to live and wondering how they could curry favour with the man who would be George II.

So now the King called his three German friends and advisers to his private chamber and there they were closeted to discuss the imminent journey to Hanover and the recalcitrance of the Prince of Wales.

"If he thinks he is going to play King while I'm away he's mistaken," said George.

"Depend upon it," replied Bernsorff, "he will make full use of his opportunities."

"He is a fool," said the King.

"The Princess is no fool," added Robethon.