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‘I trust that you will never have cause; and I am aware that Your Highness

knows that should there be a— slackening of the Prince’s affection it is more

likely to be rekindled by affection and tact than by reproaches.’

‘Tell me, when do the King and Queen hold their drawing rooms?’

‘On Thursdays and on Sunday, after church.’

‘Does the Prince go to church?’

‘He will doubtless go with you.’

‘But if he does not care to?’

‘Then Your Highness must go without him and tactfully let him realize that

you would prefer him to accompany you.’

‘What a solemn conversation,’ she cried. ‘This is masquerade, my lord.’

‘It is a pleasant subject for what could be more agreeable than Your

Highnesses going to church together.’

Caroline leaned forward to watch the dancers.

She looked, Malmesbury noticed, more at ease as a result of their

conversation.

————————

The Duke sent for his daughter.

‘Caroline,’ he said, I have today received dispatches from England. It is not

the wish of the Prince of Wales that Mademoiselle Rosenzweig should

accompany you to England.’

‘Not accompany me! But she must. She is my secretary. How am I going to

understand the English without her? Who is going to write my letters? How can I

manage without her?’

‘Caroline, pray do not become so excited. You must remember that the Prince

of Wales is your husband now and you must obey his wishes.’

‘But he does not know Mademoiselle Rosenzweig. Why should he object to

her? I shall take her— no matter what he says.’

‘Caroline, pray be reasonable.’

‘I— be reasonable! What of the Prince, my gallant husband!’

‘You are going to the English Court. You must remember that ours is small

compared with it. There may well be rules you do not understand. You should

remember always to obey your husband.’

‘But it seems so senseless. He has never met Mademoiselle Rosenzweig. Why

should he object to someone he has never seen— unless it is to spite me?’

‘You are talking nonsense.’

‘He is talking nonsense. He is being unreasonable. I will not part with

Rosenzweig. I will take her with me.’

‘Caroline, control yourself.’

‘You yourself said that my English was so bad that I needed a secretary.’

‘I know. I know. Perhaps I might put this case to His Highness. Perhaps I

could explain to him. He may not realize that you write English even worse than

you speak it.’

‘So you will tell him that I insist on bringing her?’

‘I will put the case to him and ask him to allow you to bring her.’

Caroline laughed suddenly. ‘It is the same thing,’ she said.

Her father looked at her anxiously; and thought of her sister Charlotte who

had mysteriously, disappeared in Russia. How had she behaved to attract such a

fate?

What was wrong with the children he had had by the Duchess— born of

dislike and indifference.
Oh, God,
he thought,
we royal people are to be pitied
because we are forced into marriages which are repugnant to us; and not only do
we suffer, but our children also. And what would happen to Caroline?

Looking at her now, seeing the stubbornness in her face, hearing that wild laughter, he wondered.

But he would at least endeavour to explain to the Prince of Wales that his

daughter needed the help of a secretary.

————————

The Duchess sent for her daughter. When Caroline arrived her mother was

lying back in a chair in a most dramatic attitude, a letter held in her hand.

‘Caroline! My daughter!’ she cried. ‘Shut the door. Make sure no one is

listening.’

Caroline regarded her mother with distrust, but there was no doubt that the

Duchess was genuinely agitated.

‘I have a letter here from— I know not whom— but it is most distressing. I

don’t know what to make of it. But if it is true it— it horrifies me.’

‘What is it?’ asked Caroline, seating herself inelegantly on her mother’s bed.

‘It is unsigned. It tells me that Lady Jersey is the mistress of the Prince of

Wales, that she is treated as the Princess of Wales and that he will continued to treat her as such after your arrival.’

‘What?’ cried Caroline and snatched the letter from her mother’s hand.

‘Oh dear, your manners! What will they think at the English Court— and if

this is true— and I really believe―’

But Caroline was not listening to her mother; she was reading the letter.

The Prince of Wales doted on Lady Jersey; he spent most of his time with her;

she was received at all the greatest houses as though she were Princess of Wales.

The letter purported to be a warning to the Princess against Lady Jersey who, it

was said, would do all in her power to undermine Caroline’s position in England.

She would almost certainly attempt to find a lover for the Princess and aid her to continue the intrigue.

‘What will become of you,’ moaned the Duchess, taking the letter from her

daughter and starting to read it again.

‘No one is going to lead me into a love affair if I don’t want to go,’ declared

Caroline.

‘You don’t understand how clever these people can be. Even if you were not

tempted—’ The Duchess looked knowingly at her daughter as though she were

sure she would be— ‘that woman would make out a case against you. Oh, I am

terrified— truly terrified.’

‘Nobody is going to make out cases against me,’ declared Caroline.

‘I fear, my child, that you are going among wolves.’

‘You forget that I have the Brunswick lion in my heart.’

That might be,
thought the Duchess, but it was a somewhat wild animal.

‘I will speak to dear Lord Malmesbury about the letter,’ said Caroline. ‘Pray

give it to me, Mamma.’

‘I am not sure.’

‘I am,’ said Caroline, and snatched the letter.

‘I think you should be very careful, Caroline. Lord Malmesbury is, you must

remember, working for the King.’

‘No,’ said Caroline almost gently, ‘he is working for me.’ Her mother looked

after her helplessly as she went out.

————————

‘Pray, my Lord Malmesbury, tell me all you know about Lady Jersey.’ He

was taken aback, she saw. So there was something in it. ‘Is she the Prince’s

mistress? Come, be frank.’

‘The Prince has many friends and in a cultivated society friendship between

members of opposite sexes does not necessarily indicate a love affair. Why does

Your Highness ask?’

Caroline brought out the letter. He read it and could not hide his dismay.

Then he said: ‘An anonymous letter! One should never take such letters

seriously. It may well be some milliner who is disappointed not to have obtained a post in the household that is being made ready for you. Some maidservant—’

“Do you think such people would have intimate knowledge of my husband’s

affairs?’

‘I see that there is much you have to learn of the English scene. There is

constant gossip in the chocolate and coffee houses concerning people in high

places. Royalty does not escape. Rather is royalty, treated more scurrilously than most. That is why it is always so important to live exemplarily. The writer of this letter has clearly been listening to gossip. She— or he— shows a complete

ignorance of affairs. This letter should be immediately destroyed and forgotten.’

‘So you mean I should not be on my guard against Lady Jersey?’

‘Your Highness should be on guard against everyone.’

‘But not specially Lady Jersey?’

‘Especially against those members of the Court with whom Your Highness

will be in close contact.’

‘But it says she will attempt to lead me into an affair of gallantry.’

‘Complete nonsense. She could do no such thing.’

‘And why not, pray?’

‘Because, Your Highness, no man would dare make advances to the Princess

of Wales.’

It was then that Malmesbury felt more than a twinge of uneasiness, for the

Princess actually looked disappointed. ‘Why not?’ she demanded shrilly.

‘Because, Your Highness, anyone who presumed to love you would be guilty

of high treason, which as Your Highness will know is punishable by death.’

‘By death!’

‘But certainly. It is a universal law. The King’s own sister, Caroline Matilda,

who was Queen of Denmark, took a lover. He was executed; and she would have

been also but for the intervention of His Majesty. She was imprisoned and died in prison when she was about Your Highness’s own age.’

The Princess Caroline had turned pale, and Malmesbury pressed home his

advantage.

‘So you see, this is the letter of a person who is unfamiliar with the ways of

the Court. It should be destroyed. I am surprised—’ He stopped himself in time.

He had been about to say that he was surprised that the Duchess should show it to her daughter. His friendship with Caroline was making him forget his diplomatic

manners.

‘It is addressed to my mother,’ she said. ‘I will take it back to her and tell her to destroy it.’

‘Destroy and forget it,’ admonished Lord Malmesbury.

She almost flounced out.

What lack of grace! he thought.
What will the Prince think of her? Lady

Jersey’s task will not be difficult, I fear, and of course she will call attention to
these gaucheries.

Poor Caroline! What can I do to save her from unhappiness?

————————

In the Duchess’s apartments Caroline was saying: ‘So you see, Mamma, this

is merely the spiteful letter of a disappointed servant. Lord Malmesbury says that no man would I dare attempt to be my lover, for if he did he would be punished

by death.’

Caroline’s eyes gleamed. How exciting— to face death for a lover. If Lady

Jersey were in truth the mistress of the Prince of Wales and she wanted a lover

she would most certainly not hesitate. Why should she? If he could be unfaithful, so could she. She would have faced death for dearest Töbingen. Could there be

another like him?

The Duchess was thinking: Death to love the Princess of Wales? Could that

really be the law? It certainly had been flouted in the case of her own mother. She remembered the Dowager Princess of Wales who had been so enamoured of Lord

Bute that she had been unable to keep her devotion secret. She had never heard

any suggestion that they should be sentenced to death— although everyone knew

of the connection. He used to visit her openly; he behaved like a father to young George— and it was a very cosy comfortable arrangement. The people had not

liked it, of course. But that was because they had not liked Lord Bute— it was not due to the fact that he was the Princess’s lover but that he was a Scotsman who

had wanted to rule England.

Oh, yes, the people had murmured against the lovers. The Duchess

remembered the shouts of ‘Jackboot’— a play on Bute’s name— and ‘Petticoat’

which used to be shouted in the streets. But they were amused by them, and there

were cartoons and caricatures. No one had suggested treason. She knew that the

English were the most tolerant people in the world. They liked their Royalty to

amuse them and a little scandal was very palatable.

In her frivolous way she was about to tell Caroline this; but even she realized

the effect it might have on her daughter.

So she said nothing; and held the offending letter in the flame of a candle.

————————

As soon as Christmas was over, preparations to leave went on at great speed,

and when a message came from the Prince of Wales to say that in spite of the

Duke’s intercession on her behalf he forbade Mademoiselle Rosenzweig to

accompany her mistress, Caroline was thrown into a fury of rage. ‘Why, Why,

why?’ she demanded. Lord Malmesbury with his customary tact managed to calm

her.

There was doubtless a reason, he told her, but he could not tell her because he

did not know it. He begged her to be patient. He would be her friend and

counsellor in all things; and he believed she would find him as useful as a

secretary.

‘The dear man,’ cried Caroline afterwards when taking, farewell of

Mademoiselle Rosenzweig, I could have flung my arms about his neck when he

said that. And he does, my dear Rosenzweig, comfort me a great deal for my loss

of you.’

There was no time for grieving; the journey was about to begin and it was by

no means the best time of the year for travelling; the roads would be icy; and it might even be dangerous. Caroline was not put out at the thought. At least it

would be exciting.

On December 29th 1794, at two o’clock in the afternoon, they left Brunswick.

The Duke said his goodbyes to his daughter very tenderly; and she wept a

little.

Dear Papa,
she thought,
he really was very good to me; and I suppose next to
Major von Töbingen, I love him best in the world.

He had been stern often and she was a little afraid of him but he had always

been concerned for her, though never so much as now.

‘Goodbye, dearest Papa,’ she said.

‘Caroline, my dear child, try to be happy.’

‘It shall be my purpose in life, Papa.’

‘And please listen to the advice of older and wiser people.’

She promised she would. She got into the carriage where her mother was

already seated, for the Duchess was accompanying her to Hanover.

Then the Duke took his leave of Lord Malmesbury and begged him to be a