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she could do was threaten to publish the findings of the Council which would

enable the public to know how she had been slandered and proved innocent. They

were already on her side because of their dislike of the Prince of Wales and would be ready to believe her; and neither the Prince of Wales nor the King dared stand out against public opinion.

He dictated a letter which she was to send to the King.

‘As to any consequences which may arise from such publication, unpleasant or hurtful to my
own feelings and interests, I may perhaps be properly responsible— but whatever these
consequences may be, I am fully convinced that they must be incalculably less than those to which
I am exposed by my silence—’

As there was no reply to this letter, Perceval arranged for five thousand copies

to be printed of what was known as
The Book
; this contained a full report of the proceedings against the Princess of Wales at the Delicate Investigation.

Then, due to a dispute concerning Catholic reform, the Government fell, and

the Whig friends of the Prince of Wales were replaced by the Tories. Lord

Portland was Prime Minister and Spencer Perceval was given the post of

Chancellor of the Exchequer. The leading ministers were now the enemies of the

Prince of Wales which meant that they would give support to Caroline. Perceval

lost no time in doing all he could to reinstate her. Very soon after the new

Ministry had been formed, he prevailed upon Portland and other Ministers,

including George Canning, to put their names to an ultimatum which was

addressed to the King.

‘Your Majesty’s confidential servants humbly submit to Your Majesty that it is essentially
necessary, injustice to Her Royal Highness and for the honour and interests of Your Majesty’s
illustrious family, that Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales should be admitted with as little
delay as possible into Your Majesty’s royal presence, and that she should be received in a manner
due to her rank and station in Your Majesty’s Court and family.’

Another letter followed this in which it was suggested that a suitable residence

be found for the Princess of Wales which would be nearer to the royal palaces and enable her to be within easy access of the Court.

This was something the King could not ignore. He knew if he did so,
The

Book
would immediately be published and the people would rise up against the Prince of Wales— and perhaps the King— for treating the Princess so cruelly.

‘She must be invited to Court without delay,’ he told the Queen, who was

wise enough to recognize an ultimatum.

‘It is something we shall be forced to endure,’ she agreed.

‘And where can she be lodged?’

‘As far from Carlton House as possible, I suggest. Perhaps Kensington

Palace.’

So Kensington Palace it was; but although Caroline took apartments there she

kept on Montague House and declared to Mrs Fitzgerald that she was only going

to Court to let people know that she was innocent of the charges brought against

her, for to stay away might give an appearance of guilt. What she enjoyed most

would be her stays in Montague when she could devote herself to Willikin and

entertaining her friends there in her own way without the ceremony which could

not be avoided in palaces.

The King greeted her with affection and tears in his eyes. ‘My dear, how glad

I am to see you! It has been a bad time— eh, what, a bad time?’

‘A very bad time, dear Uncle. But I hope it is over now and your feelings

towards me have not changed.’

With tears in his eyes he assured her this was not so.

The Queen regarded her coldly and gave her only the barest

acknowledgement while her eyes rested on the extravagant dress of too many

colours, cut far too low. Caroline wanted to laugh at her; but she reminded herself that she must be on her best behaviour.

The Princesses of course followed their mother and treated her with an almost

cool insolence.

And then the Prince of Wales. She looked at him almost hopefully. He was

splendid, not so glittering as in the past being under the influence of Beau

Brummell who had taught him his own special brand of unobtrusive elegance.

She dropped a curtsey.

His bow was notorious. There was no one who could perform the act with

such grace. There was a breathless moment when he enacted this feat for now it

was especially interesting.

It was over very quickly— that most elegant bow— and then she was looking

at the Prince’s back. He had turned and was speaking to one of his sisters.

So— she was to be received back at Court though ignored by the Prince of

Wales and the Delicate Investigation was over— but not forgotten.

Just before Caroline had gone to Court she had had sad news from Brunswick.

Her father, the Duke, had been killed while leading the Prussian army against

Napoleon.

This event had momentarily made her forget her own dismal affairs. She was

very melancholy. She thought of her father and all he had meant to her in the past.

He had been perhaps the only person she had really loved during her Brunswick

childhood. It was true that it was long since she had said goodbye to him but she had never forgotten him.

Incidents from the old days kept coming back to her; the occasion when she

had pretended she was in labour, Charlotte’s wedding; the day he had told her that she need never marry if she did not wish. If only she had taken his advice, but

would she have enjoyed life any more in Brunswick, at the mercy of her rather

silly mother and sensible Madame de Hertzfeldt? And then she would never have

had Charlotte.

‘Charlotte, my darling, my angel, who I am only allowed to see once a week!’

she cried.

And she decided then that it would have been one degree worse to have stayed

in Brunswick than to have come to England in spite of being married to a husband

who was no husband and determined to harm her.

Mrs. Fitzgerald came in to tell her that Willikin was crying for his Mamma

and demanding to know why she wasn’t there to amuse him.

‘Bring him in. Bring him in,’ she cried.

And there was the naughty little boy to be petted and, kissed and cuddled and

told that his mamma loved him and that he was her pet boy, her little Willikin.

Mrs. Fitzgerald told Mrs.Vernon that the change in the Princess’s moods was

sometimes alarming. Rarely had she known one whose moods changed so rapidly.

She would be in the depth of despair one moment and the next shouting with joy.

‘That’s Willikin’s doing,’ said Mrs. Vernon.

‘She’s making him into a horrible spoilt brat,’ added Mrs. Fitzgerald.

————————

The Prince was uneasy. He had enjoyed several years of conjugal bliss with

his dear love Maria, and was looking for adventure.

Women! He adored them. But he had to be in pursuit of them; and he liked

the pursuit to be difficult and not to be brought to too easy a conclusion. Maria was his life, his soul, his wife; and there would always be a place for her in his heart, but he was not meant to live a placid married life which was what Maria

wanted. She and dear old Pigot would have liked there to have been cosy little

domestic evenings spent at home in Carlton House. But Carlton House was not

built for cosy evenings; nor was the Prince of Wales.

While the Delicate Investigation had been in progress, Maria had been

concerned in a court case of her own. A few years previously she had taken a little girl to live with her while her parents, Lord Hugh and Lady Horatia Seymour, had

gone to Maderia because Lady Horatia was suffering from galloping

consumption.

Maria, one of whose greatest griefs was that she had no children of her own,

doted on the little girl and wished to adopt her legally; but, on the death of the child’s parents, her aunt, Lady Waldegrave, also wanted to adopt her. Maria, who

had cared for the child for a few years, was determined to keep her. The Prince of Wales had been fond of little Mary Seymour, ‘Minney’ as she called herself; and

seemed much more interested in her than in his own daughter Charlotte. She

would clamber all over him and christened him ‘Prinney’ to rhyme with Minney

which amused him greatly; and he fit when the three of them were together they

were indeed happy family.

He had been very sorry when Lady Waldegrave claimed her; and declared that

they must have a legal ruling on the matter, and was so upset to see his dear Maria heartbroken at the prospect of losing Minney that he offered to settle £10,000 if the child if she were left in Maria’s care.

This case had been going on for some months and during it, the Prince

became very friendly with the Hertfords because the Marquess of Hertford as

head of the Seymour family agreed that he would put an end to the proceedings

by declaring that he would adopt the child himself. Since he was the head of the

family no one could dispute this; the case was settled and then the Marquess

appointed Maria Minney’s guardian.

This was very satisfactory, but during the proceedings the Prince had become

infatuated by the Marchioness of Hertford.

It was not that he no longer loved Maria, he was careful to assure himself. He

did love her; but Lady Hertford seemed sylphlike in comparison. He could not

take his eyes from her when they were in company together; and people were

beginning to notice. Miss Pigot tried to comfort Maria. The household had

changed since the Prince had come back. They were, according to Miss Pigot,

living happily-ever-after. And now they had the adorable Minney.

Maria had not noticed at first the way things were going so immersed had she

been in the battle for Minney. Now she was elated because Minney was hers.

But one day she said to Miss Pigot: ‘The Prince is giving a dinner party for

the Marchioness of Hertford. It’s not the first time.’

‘Well, I expect he’s grateful to them for giving you darling Minney.’

‘I don’t think it’s that,’ said Maria slowly. ‘And he wants me there— to make

it seem— respectable. Isn’t that just like him?’

‘Nonsense!’ said Miss Pigot. ‘Of course he wants you there. Doesn’t he

always want you there?’

But Miss Pigot was beginning to be worried. It would tragic if anything went

wrong now that they had gain little Minney.

————————

Caroline was settling into her new life. She gave wild parties at Montague

House to which were invited all kind of people from politicians to poets. Lord

Byron was constant visitor and a great favourite with the Princess.

‘A strange moody man,’ she confided in Lady Charlotte Campbell who had

come to serve her. ‘Yet he can be the gayest I ever met. And so amusing. Such

fun. He is two men. He is one for the people he loathes and another for those he

loves— and I think I am one of those he loves. He is so good at my parties. I

sometimes declare he shall come to all of them.’

Lady Charlotte listened attentively. She had been a great beauty when she was

young and she had married Colonel John Campbell by whom she had had nine

children. The Princess of Wales had taken to her at once, for anyone who had had

nine children excited her admiration and envy. When Lady Charlotte’s husband

died Caroline had asked her to join her household and they had become great

friends, What the Princess did not know was that Lady Charlotte kept a diary and

recorded every little incident. Lady Charlotte fancied herself as a writer and had decided that when she had time she would devote herself to the art.

In the meantime she could enjoy her diary which would remind her of the

Princess if ever she should cease to serve her.

Caroline had found her the perfect confidante because she listened so intently

to everything that was told her and remembered too. More and more she began to

confide in her while Lady Charlotte diligently wrote of the Princess’s penchant

for people whose conduct was somewhat scandalous, like Lord Byron. She was so

unconventional. When she was at Kensington she would walk in the gardens and

talk to strangers as though she were an ordinary member of the public. Nor was

she content to stay in the gardens but would wander out into the streets and enjoy what she called the ‘dear people’, forgetting that at any moment she might be

recognized. She liked to wander about incognito; and if she saw a poor child she