Queen in Waiting: (Georgian Series) Page 12

  As for her son George Lewis, he was the crudest of them all. And foolish too. He was going to lose the opportunity of bringing the most accomplished of Princesses to Hanover.

  Leibniz read Caroline’s letter aloud.

  ‘Heaven, jealous of our happiness, has taken away from us our adored and adorable Queen. The calamity has overwhelmed me with grief and sickness, and it is only the hope that I may soon follow her that consoles me. I pity you from the bottom of my heart for her loss to you is irreparable. I pray the good God to add to the Electress Sophia’s life the years that the Queen might have lived and I beseech you to add my devotion to her.’

  Sophia wept quietly as she listened.

  She and I alone could console each other, she thought.

  Yet it was no use talking to George Lewis. What did he know of grief? What did he know of love?

  The clocks were striking midnight when George Augustus with the Baron von Eltz and one valet rode through the narrow streets of Hanover, past the gabled houses with their sloping roofs, past the Markt Kirche, the Rathaus, out of the town and away towards Ansbach.

  This was the most exciting adventure he had ever undertaken; the miracle was that it should be happening at his father’s suggestion.

  Caroline! He was half-way to falling in love with her already. He hoped she was not too clever. He didn’t like clever women. He had never enjoyed studying and had avoided it when possible; a wife who knew more than he did would be intolerable. But they said she was beautiful; and if she should choose him after refusing the Archduke Charles he would be delighted with her.

  The Baron was giving him some uneasy glances. He was afraid he would give himself away, afraid he would show that arrogance which was always ready to appear at an imagined slight. If he betrayed the fact that Monsieur de Busch, the name under which it had been decided he should travel, was in fact George Augustus, Electoral Prince of Hanover, the news that he was wooing Caroline of Ansbach would be all over Europe in a very short time.

  ‘You needn’t look at me like that, von Eltz,’ said George Augustus. ‘I’ll play my part.’

  The days were long. Caroline could settle to nothing. She could not go on in this way. She had no desire to return to Lützenburg which the King of Prussia had now renamed Charlottenburg after his wife. She had never had any love for the King of Prussia. She would stay here with her brother until her grief grew less acute – if it ever did.

  She spent long hours in the Hofgarten, remembering the past because the future was too painful to contemplate.

  Sometimes she rode through the streets of the town, through the narrow streets, past the little houses from the windows of which people leaned out to see her go by. They called affectionate greetings. They loved her the more because she had refused marriage with the Archduke Charles. She had given up a possible empire and a crown for the sake of her faith. That was how they saw it and it seemed an admirable thing to have done.

  ‘Long live our Princess,’ they called. ‘Good fortune to Your Serene Highness.’

  She smiled her sad smile and they understood her sadness and loved her for that too.

  William Frederick said to her one day: ‘You’ll be ill if you go on grieving in this way. I suggest we leave this place and take a short holiday at Triesdorf. It will be beautiful there at this time of year.’

  Listlessly Caroline agreed to accompany him to their summer home, and they had been there only a few weeks when the Margrave came to his sister’s room to tell her about the new arrivals.

  ‘Two gentlemen have come from Hanover. They bring letters from the Count von Platen, the Hanoverian Prime Minister, asking us to be kind to these two travellers.’

  Caroline said, ‘Must I see them?’

  ‘It would seem discourteous not to as there are these letters from Platen.’

  ‘That’s true, and I might hear news of the Electress. I wonder she did not give them a message to bring to me.’

  ‘Perhaps she did not know they were coming. She wouldn’t, since they are merely noblemen travelling for their own pleasure.’

  ‘I will come down this evening,’ said Caroline.

  So she met George Augustus, not knowing that he was other than Monsieur de Busch.

  He bowed, and murmured that he was overwhelmed by the honour and that it was a great moment for them.

  She replied that he was welcome. She was delighted to see anyone from Hanover and she hoped he might give her news of the Electress Sophia.

  He believed he could do that.

  The travellers were entertained in a homely and intimate manner, for the Margrave did not live in the same state in his summer residence as he did at the Palace of Ansbach.

  Young Monsieur de Busch talked animatedly of Hanover; his friend, the more sober Monsieur Steding, devoted himself to the Margrave, leaving his young friend to talk to Caroline.

  Since she was forced to pay attention to him, Caroline looked more like her old self than she had since Sophia Charlotte’s death. Her brother noticed this and thought: We must entertain more. She must not be allowed to shut herself away.

  Meanwhile Monsieur de Busch was growing very excited, although he hid this. She was charming, this young woman. She was the type that most appealed to him. Masses of fair hair, blue eyes, a little quiet, always giving him the opportunity of speaking. She seemed modest and a little sad, but he knew why that was. She was a beauty; and she would be amenable; and she had refused the Archduke Charles. He had made up his mind in the first half hour.

  Caroline saw an animated young man – short but good-looking, with a lively expression and neat features. He was about her own age, she judged, and there was an unusual dignity about him. She liked him.

  After the meal the Margrave suggested a game of cards. Monsieur de Busch asked if he might have the honour of sitting next to the Princess and this was granted.

  So they played cards in a desultory manner for that was how the visitors wished it.

  Caroline asked how the Electress Sophia was progressing after her illness.

  ‘I hear she is recovering slowly,’ she was told.

  ‘She is a wonderful lady.’

  Monsieur de Busch agreed that this was so. ‘Your Serene Highness should visit her. I believe nothing could speed her recovery more than that.’

  ‘I should have to wait for an invitation from the Elector. I might not be very welcome.’

  ‘I cannot imagine Your Serene Highness being unwelcome anywhere.’

  ‘You are very kind.’

  His almond-shaped eyes were warm – perhaps a little too warm, but strangely enough she did not mind that. By forcing her to entertain him he was making her feel more alive than she had since the tragedy.

  ‘It would be my greatest pleasure, if it were possible for me to show you kindness.’

  Hardly the manner in which a casual visitor should talk to a Princess. But he was young and she liked him for he had made her feel so much better.

  ‘It is your turn to play, Monsieur de Busch,’ she said.

  He watched her beautiful slender fingers with the cards. She was enchanting.

  I’m in love, he told himself. Caroline shall be my wife. My father will be pleased and the King of Prussia will be furious. And what will the King of Spain think when she has accepted me after refusing him!

  He was in high spirits; and he was his most attractive when he was happy. His smile was sweet and he became very gay. Perhaps he was a little bold; perhaps he showed too clearly his admiration.

  But Caroline even laughed now and then which made her brother look up sharply.

  He was glad the travellers from Hanover had come to Triesdorf.

  George Augustus came unannounced to the Baron’s bedchamber.

  ‘We must leave at once for Hanover,’ he declared. ‘We must tell my father that the mission is a success. I don’t propose to wait another day. I have decided.’

  ‘Your Highness has come to a very quick decision.’

 
George Augustus threw up his hands in the gesture his father so disliked. ‘But I am in love with her. She is beyond my expectations. Surely you can see for yourself.’

  ‘The Princess is charming, but…’

  ‘I have decided.’

  ‘Then in that case, in the morning I will tell the Margrave that we have been called back to Hanover on urgent business.’

  ‘Do that. I shall not have a moment’s peace until she is in Hanover.’

  ‘If Your Highness is assured that you are not being too hasty…’

  ‘I always make up my mind quickly.’

  The Baron forbore to mention that this was not always with the happiest results. George Augustus would not listen. He was in love.

  Would he have been quite so infatuated with the Princess of Ansbach if the Archduke Charles had not sought her hand? wondered the Baron. He knew his Prince.

  The Princess was a charming creature, capable of affection, as her sadness at the death of the Queen of Prussia showed. The Baron hoped she would not expect too much from his mercurial little Prince – if she decided to accept him.

  In the morning he told the Margrave that they were called back. They took outwardly regretful leave, although George Augustus could not completely hide the fact that he was bubbling over with excitement.

  They returned to Hanover after a very brief absence; but the Elector was as near pleased as the Baron had ever seen him at the result of his strategy.

  After the visitors from Hanover had left Triesdorf, Caroline felt melancholy. They had certainly relieved the tedium and it had been pleasant to be so obviously admired by the young Monsieur de Busch.

  Her favourite attendant Fräulein von Genninggen mentioned that his visit had been very agreeable. ‘I think it did your Highness good,’ she added. ‘I am sorry he and his friend left so soon.’

  ‘He was perhaps a little too bold,’ answered Caroline.

  ‘I daresay that is the way at Hanover. But I certainly wish they had not hurried away so quickly.’

  It was true, thought Caroline. Monsieur de Busch had made her feel alive again and… young. She was in agreement with Fräulein von Genninggen and also regretted their departure.

  But a few weeks later when Monsieur Steding returned to Triesdorf, Caroline was disappointed that he was alone. He told the Margrave that Monsieur de Busch had returned to Hanover but he himself had gone to Nuremberg to meet some friends whose arrival there had been delayed and since the Margrave and Her Serene Highness, his sister, had been so kind recently and had said they regretted that their stay should not have been longer, he had taken the opportunity to throw himself on their hospitality for a few more days.

  Monsieur Steding was very welcome, but both the Margrave and Caroline were sorry that he was not accompanied by the charming young Monsieur de Busch.

  Baron von Eltz took an early opportunity of being alone with the Princess. He whispered to her during a card game that he must speak to her alone so would she grant him an interview. She agreed to this, but when he reached her apartment he found Fräulein von Genninggen in attendance. He indicated that he must be entirely alone with the Princess so she told the Fräulein to go into the ante-room and wait there until summoned.

  As soon as they were alone the Baron told her that he came on a mission from Hanover, and that his name was not Steding but the Baron von Eltz.

  The Princess looked startled and von Eltz hurried on: ‘Before I put this proposition to you, I must have Your Highness’s promise that if you decide not to accept it you will say nothing to anyone.’

  ‘I promise,’ said Caroline.

  ‘Monsieur de Busch was an assumed name. My companion was George Augustus, Electoral Prince of Hanover.’

  ‘Oh!’ said Caroline faintly.

  ‘First I must ask you whether you are free of all matrimonial engagements and are not involved in any way with the King of Spain.’

  ‘I am free.’

  ‘The Electoral Prince had heard such accounts of your beauty, your charm and wisdom that he was determined to see for himself whether rumour was true. His visit here convinced him that what he had heard was not warm enough in its praise and having seen you he has told his father that he wishes to marry you.’

  Caroline was too agitated to collect her thoughts. She had thought he might have had a message from the Electress Sophia, not such a proposal as this.

  ‘I had not expected…’ she began.

  ‘Your Serene Highness, a young man in love is impatient… and His Highness, the Electoral Prince, is both.’

  Sophia Charlotte’s nephew! If she married him she would live under the same roof as the Electress Sophia. Surely that was getting as near to Sophia Charlotte as was possible.

  ‘I should have to speak to my brother,’ she said.

  ‘Naturally. But I pray you do not delay. And there is one other matter. If you decide that this proposition is distasteful to you, it must be entirely secret. None but yourself and your brother must know of this. The Elector would be most displeased if it were bruited abroad. There is one in particular who must be kept ignorant – that is the King of Prussia, for as your guardian he might take steps to stop your marriage. Not until the documents are signed should he be informed. Will you respect the Elector’s wishes?’

  ‘Yes, I will.’

  ‘And you will give your answer soon?’

  ‘I must speak to my brother. There is no other House of which I would rather be a member than that of Hanover but… I must have time to think…’

  The Baron bowed and left her.

  Caroline walked up and down her apartment. She was thinking of the little man who had smiled at her so warmly, who had shown so clearly how he admired her.

  She liked him… as well as one could like anyone on such a short acquaintance. But she had liked Archduke Charles. If it had not been a matter of leaving Sophia Charlotte… if it had not been necessary to become a Catholic… Well, then she might by now be married to him.

  But here was George Augustus – more ardent than Charles, because he was less polished, perhaps. About Charles’s gallantry there had been a suavity which George Augustus lacked. Yet George Augustus was a pleasant young man; he admired her; he had helped her take one step out of the despondent morass into which the death of Sophia Charlotte had plunged her and she had regretted his departure.

  She went to the window and looked out across the gardens, now beautiful with summer roses. She could go to Sophia Charlotte’s home, the Leine Schloss, Herrenhausen, the Alte Palais – of which she had talked so much that Caroline felt she knew them already. Between herself and the Electress Sophia there was already a bond – their love of Sophia Charlotte. Not only that, but they were of a kind. They were interested in discussion and ideas; and it was rare to find a companion who cared for anything but gossip, clothes and court scandal.

  It was almost as though Sophia Charlotte’s voice was coming to her over the immense distance which separated the dead from the living.

  ‘I cannot be with you, my darling, but this will help you. Go to my mother; she will love you and you will love her. You have to marry sometime. It is the best way of life. You will agree when you have children. You will be there in my old home. My dearest child, it is the best thing left to you.’

  The best thing left! They were right when they said she could not go on mourning for ever, for one could not live with the dead.

  Her brother came into her apartment. It was easy to see how delighted he was.

  ‘Baron von Eltz has spoken to me. Why, Caroline, this is an excellent proposal. He wants your acceptance quickly. I hope you will give it. It is the best thing that could happen to you. You will accept this proposal?’

  She hesitated only for a second.

  ‘Yes, I accept.’

  Baron von Eltz rode with all speed to Hanover and in few days he was riding back to Ansbach with instructions from the Elector to arrange the marriage of his son with Princess Caroline.

  Not un
til George Lewis had the documents back in his hand would he break the secrecy and it was characteristic of him that he should send Count von Platen to tell his mother what had taken place.

  Sophia had risen from her bed, for she was beginning to recover, and when she received Platen in her audience chamber, he was smiling a little secretively as he bowed.

  ‘Good news, Your Highness! The Electoral Prince is soon to be married.’

  Sophia stared at him in astonishment; anger threatened to betray itself, but long practice had disciplined her to keep it in check.

  ‘Yes, Your Highness, your son thought it was high time, and he is sure you will agree with him. So a marriage has been arranged and we hope that it will take place very shortly, as neither the Elector nor the Electoral Prince see any reason for delay.’

  A marriage! thought Sophia furiously. But I wanted Caroline for him. Why will George Lewis never listen to me!

  ‘The matter has been arranged in some secrecy. The Prince rode to Ansbach with von Eltz… two gentlemen calling themselves Busch and Steding… travelling for pleasure.’

  ‘To Ansbach!’ cried Sophia. ‘Then…’

  ‘The Princess Caroline of Ansbach is to marry the Prince, Your Highness. She has accepted him and the negotiations have now been completed.’

  The Electress did not know which was the greater – fury at being kept out of a plan which she herself had suggested, or joy that what she so desired had come about. Being the sensible woman she was she quickly suppressed the former and indulged in the latter.

  She composed her features.

  ‘I am delighted,’ she said. ‘Pray tell my son that if I had been consulted I should have suggested that the best possible bride for my grandson would be the Princess Caroline of Ansbach.’