o b464705202491194 (16 page)

second father to his daughter until that time when she should be under her

husband’s care, which Lord Malmesbury promised he would do and in a manner

so fervent that the Duke’s fears were considerably appeased.

The cannons on the ramparts of the palace were fired; and the carriages began

their journey. Through Brunswick the people came out to see it pass and to cheer

their dear Princess who had always been good to them and their children.

Long life to her, they shouted. She, Princess of Wales— their own Caroline,

who would one day be Queen of England,

When the cavalcade reached Osnabrück there was grave news waiting for

them. Malmesbury had planned to travel through Holland, but according to the

dispatch, the enemy of England, the French, had marched into Holland and that

country was in danger. It was impossible therefore to contemplate taking the

Princess of Wales by that route and the squadron of ships under Commodore

Payne which was to be meant to convey the Princess to England had, in view of

the situation, returned to England. There was nothing to do but call a halt at

Osnabrück and consider the next move.

This was irksome, for without the influence of the Duke and Madame de

Hertzfeldt, both mother and daughter became very unstable. The Princess openly

flouted her mother; the Duchess gossiped incessantly; and the improvement

which Lord Malmesbury believed he had begun with the Princess seemed to have

evaporated. Caroline was a little truculent. She did not take his veiled criticisms so readily as she had at Brunswick. She was far too familiar with her attendants

and called them her dears, her little ones, her darlings; and when Lord

Malmesbury reminded her of the need to combine affability with dignity, she was

a little haughty with him as though reminding him that he was merely the King’s

ambassador while she was the wife of the Prince of Wales.

There is going to be trouble,
thought Malmesbury.

————————

The Duchess having heard that the French were not far off was thrown into a

panic.

Caroline found her preparing to depart and reported this to Malmesbury at

which the Earl went at once to the Duchess and remonstrated with her.

‘Madam,’ he said, ‘you cannot surely wish to leave your daughter

unchaperoned.’

‘Nonsense!’ said the Duchess. ‘She is surrounded by women and she has you

here to look after her. If the French were to come here, I don’t see why I should be here to be captured. They’ve always hated the English and they’d remember I

am one.’

‘Madam, I crave your pardon, but I am in charge of the Princess and I cannot

allow you to leave Her Highness until her ladies arrive from England.’

‘And when will this be?’ demanded the Duchess.

‘That, Madam, I cannot say, since our plans have been frustrated by the

advancing French armies.’

The Duchess could do nothing but obey for it was true that the Earl of

Malmesbury was in charge; and it was in any case her duty to stay with her

daughter.

Caroline cried: ‘If you wish to go, go― I do not want you to stay with me if

you prefer not to.’

They wrangled together, and Lord Malmesbury was more concerned with

their behaviour than with the advancing French.

What will become of her in England? he asked himself. He made up his mind

that it would be better to retreat to Hanover and stay there until he could be sure of conveying the Princess safely to England. From there he sent dispatches to the King and the Prince and settled down to wait for action.

————————

Perhaps, he thought, this enforced stay at Hanover was not such a calamity.

The Princess was most certainly not ready to be presented to her husband. He had

a few weeks respite and because he was fond of her, he was very anxious to helps.

her all he could.

He had been shocked— but at the same time touched when as they prepared

to leave Osnabrück she had suggested he ride in the carriage with her.

‘To tell you the truth, my lord,’ she said in her most confidential and

somewhat coquettish manner, I am heartily, sick of my mother’s company and

feel sure I should not only enjoy yours more, but profit from it.’

‘Quite impossible,’ he had retorted coldly. ‘It would be most improper.’

This had sent her into peals of that uncontrolled laughter: which he always

found so alarming.

‘Your Highness,’ he had told her, ‘must really take greater care in your

behaviour towards your servants.’

‘But I do not regard a noble lord like you as my servant,’ she had cried

mischievously.

It seemed to him that she had learned nothing. Oh, yes, they needed this stay

in Hanover.

All through February they remained there, the Princess being lodged in the

Bishop’s Palace. Malmesbury suggested that she read English for several hours

each day and that he and she should converse in that language, which was an

excellent idea because she improved considerably. She even tried to curb those

gushing displays of affection towards her attendants of which the Earl had warned her; and he grew pleased with her once more. But there was one matter which

continued to worry him. This concerned personal cleanliness.

What, he asked himself in exasperation, could a man do in such

circumstances? It was too embarrassing to be spoken of— but warned she must

be, for no sooner was she taken into His Highness’s presence than he would be

aware of her lack of cleanliness.

He could no longer delay and however delicate the matter must find some

way of making the Princess aware of what offence she would cause.

The opportunity came when he was talking to her after dinner.

‘The Prince is a most fastidious gentleman,’ he explained, ‘and pays great

attention to his
toilette
.’

‘So I have heard. Diamond buckles on his shoes! He invented a buckle of his

own, I was told, and when he first took his seat in the House of Lords he wore

satin and spangles. What a sight he must have been!’ The Princess giggled, half

with admiration, half derision.

‘I was thinking rather of personal cleanliness,’ said the Earl hastily.

‘Oh?’ Caroline was surprised.
What did that mean?
she wondered.

‘The English nobility pay attention to bathing; in fact the
toilette
is a ritual—

not to be hurried over.’

Caroline laughed. ‘Oh, I never waste much time on washing. Madame Busche

says she has never known anyone get through that performance as speedily as I.’

.‘That,’ replied the Earl sharply, ‘is nothing of which to be proud.’

Caroline looked startled and the Earl plunged in.

‘Your Highness must forgive me. I speak for your own good. It is obvious to

me— and it would be to His Highness in particular— that you do not spend

enough time at your
toilette
.’

‘My lord, what do you mean? Why should I waste my time going through a

ceremonial dressing?’

‘I did not mean the ceremony, Your Highness. I meant the actual

performance. It is necessary to wash the body all over and with care.’ This was

most embarrassing and he admitted with any other member of a royal family but

Caroline it would have been impossible. But that very familiar quality which he

so deplored did at least have the effect of allowing him to speak freely. ‘And,’ he added‚

‘to change one’s linen frequently.’

Caroline burst out laughing. ‘Oh, you mean I’m dirty!’

Malmesbury remained outwardly unperturbed.

‘It may be,’ he said, ‘that I exceed my duty, but Your Highness knows that

more than duty prompts me. In England we pay more attention to matters of

personal freshness than is the custom in Brunswick. The Prince is a gentlemen of

high fashion His linen is kept in scented presses; he bathes each day and would

expect Your Highness to do the same. He would, I fear, be aware immediately if

you failed to do so.’

Caroline was astonished. ‘Bathe!’ she cried ‘What an odd idea. Is it not a

little eccentric? Even in France they do not bathe. I was told that there is only one bathtub in Versailles and that they grow flowers in it.’

‘I am sure you have not heard the truth. But I must explain to you that in

England bathing is considered of great importance.’

‘What a strange people I am going among.’

‘And a gentleman such as the Prince is of course greatly addicted to the

habit.’

Caroline looked at him mischievously, sensing the embarrassment which was

lurking behind his dignified manner.

So I am not clean,
she thought,
and he has been wondering for a long time
how he can tell me so.
He really does care about me or why should he bother If I
did not love my dearest Major von Töbingen, if I were not going to be the wife of
the Prince of Wales, I could love this man.

‘I will take advice from you, my lord,’ she said, ‘though I do not like it from

others.’

————————

His words had some effect, though not enough. Caroline was not fond of

washing and she thought her dear Earl was being over anxious.

He was relieved that he had been able to talk to her on such a subject without

mortally offending her; but he could see that the matter had not ended with that

conversation.

Perhaps he should approach one of her women. It would certainly be easier to

explain to her. He sought out Madame Busche, one of her very personal maids

who seemed to be a sensible woman.

‘Madame Busche,’ he said, ‘I know I can speak to you frankly. And this is a

matter of some delicacy so that I must know also that I can trust to your

discretion.’

‘You may rely on me, my lord.’

‘It concerns the Princess’s
toilette.
Frankly she does not pay enough attention to it and this is noticeable. The Prince would immediately be aware of it and as I know him well, I know that he would find it repugnant— more so than most of

us, because he is a very fastidious gentleman. I fear that if the Princess were

presented to him as she is today, he would be— quite frankly little disgusted.’

Madame Busche was indeed a sensible woman. ‘I am aware of this, my lord.

We find it very difficult to get the Princess to bathe or to change her linen. She says it is all a waste of time. In fact she prides herself on the small amount of time she spends at her
toilette
’

‘This must be rectified before she meets the Prince.’

Madame Busche sighed. ‘I will do my best, my lord You will understand—’

‘I have already spoken to the Princess and I think it has had some small effect,

but there must be more of a change before we reach England. What kind of linen

does she wear?

‘Coarse petticoats and shirts, my lord, and thread stockings. I put fresh ones

out for her but often she does not change them.’

‘Madame Busche, we must do our best to make her realize the importance

of cleanliness.’

Madame Busche promised that she would do her utmost.

But the fact was, Malmesbury reminded himself, that the German idea of

personal hygiene was not the same as that of the English, and English nostrils

therefore would be far more sensitive to unpleasant odours.

Soon Mrs. Harcourt would be coming out from England to take up her part as

Lady of the Bedchamber to the Princess of Wales. He would be able to speak to

her and perhaps something effective would be done then.

He might have spoken to the Duchess. Perhaps she was the obvious person to

whom he should have spoken. But she was a foolish woman— and he was

surprised that with her English upbringing she had not noticed this failing in her daughter. But while she followed the habits she had been taught in England she

had made no effort to instil them in Caroline.

————————

It was not until March that news came from England that the fleet which was

to escort Caroline to England had arrived.

The waiting was over. Malmesbury was relieved yet apprehensive. It was

perhaps foolish of him to feel the latter, because no one could find fault with the manner in which he had so far carried out his commission. But it was impossible

to have come to know Caroline so well and not to feel affection for her— and the

apprehension was for what would happen to her. He could not imagine how the

Prince of Wales could possibly be attracted by her.

The arrival of Mrs. Harcourt was a comfort. She was, he believed, a sensible

woman; she was English; she would understand the need for an improvement in

the Princess’s
toilette
and Lord Malmesbury could talk to her frankly.

Caroline was at first suspicious of her and resentful that her ladies-in-waiting

should be chosen for her when she was not allowed to take her secretary

Mademoiselle Rosenzweig with her. So she received Mrs. Harcourt as though she

disliked her, for there was no finesse about Caroline.

Mrs. Harcourt— a friend of Lady Jersey who had planned with that lady that

the Prince should marry not the fascinating Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, niece of the Queen) but the less attractive Caroline of Brunswick— was a woman of

experience.

At the moment it was necessary for her to find her way into the Princess’s

good graces, so she ignored the churlish reception and very soon Caroline’s

temporary dislike had passed.