Queen in Waiting - Plaidy Jean - Страница 65

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The Prince went at once to the King, and Robethon was delighted with tlie success of his plan.

In spite of the fact that George Augustus had given way and the Duke of Arg)ll and his brother Lord Islay had been dismissed from their public posts, tlie King was still determined not to give his son the Regency.

He argued with his Council tliat the Prince was too irresponsible.

His German advisers were firm in their views that harm could come of giving the Prince too much power; the English ministers declared that the Prince being of age must necessarily take the Regency.

If George had not been so eager to see Hanover he would have abandoned the whole project; but he was so heartily sick of his new country and so fervently longing for his old, that he was determined to make the trip whatever the consequences. Moreover war was imminent—war which would involve Hanover and he wanted to make sure that if Hanover should need the support of England, Hanover should have it.

Marlborough, backed by his forceful wife, always ready to seek a way back to power, suggested that six men should be chosen who would support the Prince in his Regency and have

equal power with him. This idea enchanted Marlborough, for he saw himself as one, with four of his friends—possibly members of his family—who would sit in Council with the Prince and in fact govern the realm with the Prince as their mouthpiece. A project after his own heart.

But the days of Marlborough's glory were long behind him. Walpole and Townsend laughed at the Duke's temerity behind his back. The old man must be getting senile to think he could get away with that one! They smiled to think of him hatching it with Sarah—and being so unaware of the decline in their fortunes as to think such a suggestion could be anything but laughable.

Townsend, as Prime Minister, had made his decision. The King did not like him so he already had one foot in the Prince's camp and he had made up his mind that his support was going to the Prince.

He addressed the Council, telling them that there was no precedence for what was suggested. Never before when a Prince of Wales had been of an age to become Regent in the absence of the King had he been asked to agree that others should join with him. The Prince would be working in collaboration with the Parliament and that was according to the laws and customs of England.

"I will not have him Regent," cried George. *'This would give him too much power. He would have a position similar to that now held by the Duke of Orleans. This is a different matter. Louis XV is a minor, and the Duke is in all but name King of France. To be Regent at this time in France is to be King. It must not be so here. Regent he shall not be called. My son must not have the power of a Regent. His talents do not justify this."

The members of the Council were silent for a while; and then Townsend said: ''There is another title which was once used in England. It is Guardian and Lieutenant of the Realm. It implies a guardianship without the power of a Regent. Does your Majesty think this could be bestowed on the Prince of Wales? It would give him a title without great power. It would thus preserve his dignity while giving Your Majesty less cause for anxiety."

**I will look into this," said George. "I think it may well be what we need."

"Guardian and Lieutenant of the Realm!" cried George Augustus taking off his wig—a familiar habit when incensed— and first stamping on it and then proceeding to kick it round the apartment. "I am Regent. I vill be Regent."

"This is not bad," soothed Caroline. "Vait till he is gone ... just vait. That is all. Vat we must do is make this pipple love us. This ve can do. Ve vill have our court. It vill be as though ve are the King and Queen. And if anything goes wrong ... it is not your fault. You are only the Guardian of the Realm ... not the Regent. As soon as he has gone ve shall show the pipple how much more pleasant it is ven you are King."

"Guardian of the Realm! " growled George Augustus.

"Vat do the pipple know of that? Vat do they care? It is the pipple's love ve vant, George Augustus. It is friends ... Ve vill have our court. To it vill ve invite those who vill help us most ... and those who are not pleased vith the King. Never mind if they call you Regent or Guardian. This is your chance to show this pipple vat a King you vill be."

His scowl lightened; he picked up his wig and put it on his head. He stood on tiptoe; he looked in the mirror. He was already seeing himself as King.

"This is my chance, Caroline," he said. "That is how I see it. Guardian of the Realm! It is an insult. But vat does the name matter? They vill see, these dear good pipple, vat a King I shall be. They vill long for the day ... just as I do. And it vill come."

She smiled at him; she was growing more fond of him as time passed.

There was excited activity at St. James's, but no one was more excited at the project of leaving England than the King; he was almost jovial—a mood in which many of his subjects had never seen him before.

Mustapha and Mahomet were, of course, going with the

King; but they were not very pleased. Life in England had offered them far more than it had in Hanover. They had been able to give out many of the smaller posts in the King's household and they had quickly discovered how they could make a profitable business of this.

They had laughed together at the grumbles of the King's courtiers who asked: Who ever heard of a King who would have only two Turkish servants to assist him at his toilet? This had been a longstanding ceremony in the life of English Kings and this German had substituted two Turks for all the gentlemen who could have had lucrative posts in his household.

Just another crude habit of a coarse-minded King, said the disappointed gentlemen; but Mahomet and Mustapha had developed a talent for greed; so they were not pleased to be taken from the happy hunting ground.

Stanhope was uneasy. He was to accompany George to Hanover leaving Townsend and Walpole behind. He would, of course, have the ear of the King which was important, but how could he know what was going on in the mind of Townsend and the even more wily one of Walpole? What would they be doing while he was away?

The King's two mistresses naturally accompanied him—the Maypole and the Elephant. Kielmansegge was not eager to go; she had found lovers among the English and she was growing to like them better than the Germans. Moreover, in Hanover was their old rival the Countess von Platen, who would of course welcome George very affectionately—and even a man of habit as he undoubtedly was could not help being glad of a change.

And Ermengarda? A little while ago she would have been delighted to go to Hanover. That was when she was afraid for the King's safety. But why go now when the horrible Pretender had shown he could do nothing against the King and had scuttled back to France? Why not stay in England where life was really more comfortable and there were so many perquisites for those in favoured places? Oh, yes, Ermengarda would rather have stayed in England.

At the same time she was fond enough of George to be

pleased to see him happy. So with her usual placidity she prepared to accompany her lord to Hanover.

There was one other at St. James's who rejoiced as wholeheartedly as George—and that was Caroline, for she saw clearly that the pattern of life had changed. She was no longer going to pretend she was trying to please the King. She had had to come out into the open.

Very well, they were rivals. And while he was away she was going to lay the foundations of that Court of which she would one day be Queen.

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