Виктория Холт - Queen in waiting

Life had certainly taken a happier turn.

The King: even condescended to tell her of the marriage project which his daughter, Sophia Dorothea, longed to put into practice: her daughter for Frederick, her son for Amelia. She admitted that the crown of Prussia would be a good proposition for Amelia and she had no objection to Frederick's marrying his cousin.

She thought of Sophia Dorothea, the gay young sister-in-law whom she had known during the first months of her marriage, and who had determined to marry the King of Prussia's heir ... her own beloved Sophia Charlotte's son. It had been a strange marriage for the King of Prussia had turned out to be a violent man; but Sophia Dorothea had spirit and in spite of the fact that there was violence between them, they had a lasting affection for each other.

She, Caroline, would, of course, have no say in the marriage of her children; the King would decide and she and George Augustus would accept his decision; but it was pleasant that he should condescend to discuss the matter with her.

She talked to the Prince about the proposal. His face grew purple at the thought of it.

"This I vill not haf," he said. "They are mad, that family. Their father is mad. I hate him."

"But their mother is your own sister."

"Vot is that? She have von husband who is a madman."

"His manners are strange, yes "

"And this I vill not haf."

"If the King decides we must accept."

"I vill not. She is my daughter. Frederick is my son. This double vedding I vill not haf. I hate the King of Prussia. Vonce he tried to marry you."

"That came to nothing."

"How happy I am that it did not." His blue eyes filled with tears. "Vot should I haf done vithout my Caroline, eh?"

"Doubtless they vould have found another von for you."

"That I vould not haf. It has been a happy marriage. I vould never love another as I love my Caroline."

She thought of him, waiting outside Henrietta's apartments watch in hand. She thought of his attempts with Mary Bellenden and Mary Wortley Montague. They were two unsuccessful ones; there had been many others which had succeeded.

"They are but mistresses," he would say. "You are the Princess and my vife."

He was like a child in so many ways; and the reason why he was so much against the double wedding was because at one time there had been a possibility of the King of Prussia's being a suitor for Caroline.

The Duchess of Darlington was pensive. She had heard that Wilhelmina, the daughter of the King of Prussia was a very clever and forceful woman. If she married Frederick he would come to England, for then he could no longer be kept away. Another clever \» oman at the Court I That would be too much. The cleverness of the Princess Caroline was a hindrance to so many of her plans; and although the King was supposed to be on bad terms with the Prince and Princess it was clear that even he was impressed by this cleverness.

No, definitely the Duchess did not want another clever woman at Court.

"I have heard," she told the King, "that Wilhelmina is so ugly that she is quite frightful to look at; and violent with it—so much so that she has epileptic fits."

The King was horrified. This was gossip, of course; but very often there was truth in rumour. They wanted no epilepsy in the family.

The Duchess of Kendal had been aloof from the matter until she had been offered money to support the scheme. She rarely interfered with matters of state knowing she owed her hold on the King to this very quality; but money could tempt her.

She did not try to persuade the King or even show any interest to him. She had become wiser over the years but she did write to the Queen of Prussia telling her of the rumours and suggesting she invite the King to Berlin so that he might see the Princess Wilhelmina for himself and prove them false.

This advice was taken by the Queen and as a result the King decided he would pay another visit to his beloved Hanover and call at Berlin on route.

George arrived in due course at Lutzenburg which had been renamed Charlottenburg after Sophia Charlotte and there was greeted by his daughter and son-in-law.

Almost immediately he wished that he had stayed away. Sophia Dorothea had grown so like her mother that it was a shock to come face to face with her after all this time. However, he was not one to betray his feelings and his dour expression scarcely changed.

Sophia Dorothea was excited; there was so much she wanted to know about George Augustus and Caroline. She had heard such stories of the quarrel and how Caroline had managed to become popular in England. But it was hopeless to expect interesting gossip from her father. All she could do was welcome him as well as she could manage; but even that wasn't easy for the King of Prussia was miserly in the extreme and grudged spending money on anything but his armies.

What a life I lead! thought Sophia Dorothea and inwardly grimaced; for in fact she did not hate it as much as it might have seemed natural for her to do. Frederick William was so violent at times that she thought he was verging on madness; her son and daughter were terrified of him; and so was she ... in a way, a rather exciting fear, like a child who begs for stories of horror even though she knows they will bring nightmares. Oh yes, life was certainly not dull with Frederick William— neither for her nor the children. They were used to their father's ungovernable rages and the punishment he seemed to enjoy giving them; they thought nothing of it when he kicked them or beat them with his own hands; he liked to lock them in their apartments and starve them and then he would gloat over the amount of money he was saving by not feeding them.

He never attempted to beat her, although at one time he had tried; he contented himself with swearing at her, calling her abusive names and spitting in her food, especially if it was a dish she particularly enjoyed.

She was by no means meek; she would retaliate by telling him he was a brute, that he was a madman and ought to be put into a cage. Then he would laugh and there might follow a reconciliation—on the other hand there might not. One could never be sure with Frederick William. That was the joy of living with him.

What a dull life Caroline and George Augustus must lead! And her mother too ... her poor mother to whom she wrote from time to time and had tried to bring out of her prison ... what a misery her life was!

No, Sophia Dorothea, oddly enough, regretted nothing and would not have changed her life if she could. Now she assured herself she was about to see realized her most cherished plan: the Double Wedding; her son married to her brother's daughter; her brother's son married to her daughter. What an excellent plan I Her Wilhelmina would be Queen of England and George Augustus's daughter Queen of Prussia.

Thus, she had promised herself, we keep the crowns in the family.

And her enemies had tried to prevent it by spreading lies about Wilhelmina. Epileptic indeed! They should see her daughter who was clever and good looking enough to please anyone—even the English.

"Your Majesty will wish to see your granddaughter, I am sure," she told her father. "She is all eagerness for the honour."

Wilhelmina stepped forward, and knelt before the King. He saw a tall girl who appeared to be sound, but one could never tell with epilepsy.

He did not smile but merely stared at her.

"She's tall," he said.

Then his daughter gave him her hand and led him to her apartments whither the King of Prussia and Wilhelmina followed with some of their attendants. No sooner had they reached the apartment than the King demanded a candle and when it was brought to him summoned his granddaughter to stand before. When she did so he held the candle so close to her that she thought he would catch her hair alight, and examined her as though she were a horse or cow.