Jean Plaidy - Victoria in the Wings

She could not dissuade him from setting sail once more and on a warm July day he sailed out of Plymouth Hoe on the Royal Sovereign dreaming of Drake going forth to fight the Armada, George Cockburn and the Admiralty Board taking the place of the Spaniards in his mind. It was the same thing, he reasoned. He was defending freedom just as Drake had.

What a sight with Sovereign at the head of the accompanying squadron! The Royal Sovereign ! What an apt name for his ship! He would soon be the Royal Sovereign himself.

With him watching the receding land was his eldest son, George. George was a bit of a rebel himself and had applauded his father’s tussle with the Admiralty. George, like the rest of the family, was very much looking forward to the day when his father would be King, for there could be no more indulgent parent in the world.

‘This is the life,’ cried William. ‘The fresh sea breezes in your face and a rolling deck beneath your feet. My only regret is that your stepmother is not with us.’

It was a happy ship – the Royal Sovereign . William was the most thoughtful of commanders; and there was not a man on board who did not know that they were defying the Admiralty and it was exciting to take part in the famous quarrel.

Wellington called a Cabinet meeting. The Lord High Admiral was on the High Seas. For what purpose? Was it some secret mission? Why was Major George FitzClarence present? Who had authorized the mission?

The Prime Minister called on the King, who was suffering from one of his more painful lapses and was unable to leave his bed.

‘In spite of everything he has gone off again?’ cried the King.

‘I fear so, Sir.’

‘He must be recalled at once. It must be made clear to him that if he will not obey the laws of the country he will be dismissed.’

That was what Wellington needed.

‘Leave this to me, Sir.’

The correspondence had started again. William returned like a conqueror in the Royal Sovereign ; it had been an exhilarating trip – he and George together and his ship’s company delighting to serve under him; he had forgotten all about exacting people at home. But when he came into port again, there were letters and messages awaiting him.

The most important was from the King himself. He deplored his brother’s conduct. It might well be that he had a very short time to live and William would then be his successor. William must remember that the first duty of a king to his country was to obey the laws laid down by the Parliament. No king – or any other man – could be a law unto himself.

When he read this letter William saw that there was only one thing he could do.

He resigned the office of Lord High Admiral.

THEY WERE AT Bushy again leading a quiet life for a while. It was very necessary for the Affair with the Admiralty had upset William more than Adelaide cared for people to know.

He brooded on it; he went about mumbling to himself; she would go into a room where he was alone and find him talking to an imaginary Sir George Cockburn or Duke of Wellington, or perhaps to his brother the King. He would be somewhat incoherent and there would be a wild look in his eyes.

‘You need rest,’ said Adelaide fearfully; and she wished that her mother-in-law Queen Charlotte were alive so that she could have confided in her. Was this how William’s father had behaved in those weeks which had preceded his attacks?

She tried to interest him in the laying out of new gardens; such matters were very soothing to him. The children helped and they were constantly calling at Bushy. He was a little worried though about Amelia’s broken romance with Horace Seymour and he was not sure that the Church was the right vocation for young Augustus.

Adelaide persuaded him to play Pope Joan in the evenings and to retire early to bed.

Sometimes he would look at her with tears in his eyes and say: ‘What should I do without you … you and the children?’

Then she would feel that he was moving away from this threatening shadow, for then he was seeing things as they were. It was when he pictured himself as the great Drake defying tyranny in the form of Cockburn and the Admiralty Board, when he saw himself as the great King of England that she feared for him. The quiet family man at Bushy remembered that he had had nothing but kindness from the brother who now lay close to death; and who was not so much a King with a crown to pass on but a friend and brother.

‘Oh, my dear wife,’ he said, ‘what I owe to you nobody knows!’

Adelaide embraced him and said: ‘Never forget that I shall always be at your side.’

And so William passed out of danger and settled down to enjoy the quiet life of Bushy.

There were children on the lawns. Poor crippled Louise was there with her brother, and the FitzClarence grandchildren looked upon Bushy as their home.

Adelaide was happiest when surrounded by the children but she often confided to William that there was one member of the family whom she missed. It was Victoria.

‘She’s guarded like the crown jewels,’ said William.

‘I think of her often,’ said Adelaide. ‘Poor child, hers is not a very natural childhood, I fear. She seems to me such a grown-up little person. The only childish characteristic is her love for her dolls.’

And as she could not see Victoria as often as she would like, Adelaide started to embroider a dress for her in coloured wools and as she worked she thought of the child and selected the colours which she believed would please her best.

Peace was restored to Bushy.

The danger, thought Adelaide, was past. But like all such dangers it could return.

Was this how Queen Charlotte had felt? Was it some strange presentiment which had made her feel drawn to the mother-in-law who seemed to be out of sympathy with almost everyone else? It was an alarming thought.

A tragedy had occurred in Court Circles. Lord Graves had committed suicide, and there was no doubt of the reason. The Duke of Cumberland had seduced his wife, and so rendered his life no longer worth living.

Because Lord Graves had been a kindly man and popular, a wave of disgust for the behaviour of the Duke of Cumberland swept not only through the Court but throughout the country.

Cumberland had become a bogy man. His very appearance was evil. No one could trust him; and it was said that his grotesque looks fascinated some people, particularly women as in the case of Lady Graves. His attitude to life was cynical, as was that of the Duchess. Old scandals were revived. They had both been implicated in mysterious deaths which could have been murder.

Cumberland was shunned in some society; but most people were a little afraid of him. They remembered that he was a younger brother of the King and there were only two lives between him and the throne. It was true one was an ageing man, and not a very stable one at that; but the other was a young girl who had been proved to be in glowing health. There had been rumours about her delicate state, but those had been false for she was seen walking in the park with her mother almost every day, sturdy and intelligent. There was nothing wrong with the Princess Victoria.

The people cheered her. They were pleased with her. This pleasant little girl was not only destined to be their Queen, she was also a bulwark between the throne and the evil Duke of Cumberland.

The Duchess of Cumberland was a little exasperated with her husband.

‘This Graves affair is most annoying,’ she said. ‘It has focused attention on you. Was it necessary?’

‘Quite unnecessary. Why did the fellow want to kill himself so publicly?’

‘And he gave no indication that he was about to act so maddeningly?’