Madame de Hertzfeldt was asking herself how much like her brothers Caroline might be and what was the right treatment to mete out to such a girl. A great responsibility rested on her guardians she felt sure. She must choose an opportunity to speak to the Duke about his younger daughter when matters of state were less burdensome.
So Caroline flirted openly with John Thomas Stanley; and when it was necessary to say goodbye to Charlotte the young man did much to reconcile her to the parting.
‘What I shall envy Charlotte most,’ declared Caroline to the long suffering Baroness de Bode, ‘will be her children. Oh, Baroness, how I long to have a child.’
The Baroness folded her hands together and looked up to the ceiling.
‘Now Baroness, what is wrong with that?’
‘It is an immodest subject.’
‘Nonsense. How could the world go on without children?’ ‘It is immodest for a young girl to— to—’
‘To talk of adding to the coming generations? But surely that would be a benefit to mankind. Admit it, Baroness.’
‘Your Highness, I do not know what will become of you. I tremble to think.’
‘Then you should think more, Madam, and it would, with practice, become less of an effort. That might cure the trembling. A little baby— a dear little baby — ! What a miracle! When shall I have a husband? How tiresome, that one must have a husband before one can have a baby, for do you know, Baroness, I think I should almost prefer the latter to the former.’
The Baroness put her fingers to her ears.
‘Pray remove your fingers,’ cried Caroline. I promise you I will no longer assault your ears. Instead I shall go to see my children.’
Caroline flounced out of the schoolroom, leaving the Baroness murmuring to herself: Should I speak to the Duchess? But of what use? It will have to be to Madame de Hertzfeldt. And what can one expect in a household when the wife takes second place to the mistress? Meanwhile Caroline rode out of the palace. She should have taken a groom with her, but she had no intention of doing so. First of all she would call on the newest arrival— a baby boy three weeks old. He had been a little sickly at birth and was improving now. She had ordered the cooks to send food to the household, for if the baby were to thrive, the mother must be well fed.
There he was in his crib. She lifted him out . I think he knows me. Look, he is smiling. She was happy, sitting in the old wooden rocking chair holding the baby. How they adored her, these cottage people. They called her ‘Good Princess Caroline’.
Good, she thought, for doing what I want. How easy it is to be good. She told the mother that food would arrive the following day and she would see that the baby was properly clothed. And after that she went on to see her next protégé. The people cheered her as she rode through the town They had all heard stories of her love for children and how households containing them benefited.
Any mother in distress only had to ask help from Princess Caroline and it came— not as they had been accustomed to receiving help from royalty, not an impersonal steward distributing a few comforts at Christmas-time, but with genuine interest. It did one good, many had said, to see the Princess Caroline come into a humble room and take a child upon her knees.
She never did so without saying to herself ‘Oh, if only I had a child of my own!’
Caroline cannot go to the Ball
THE months flew by— one year, two years. There was little news from Charlotte, except that she had given birth to a child. Lucky Charlotte!
‘When will there be a suitor for me?’ Caroline demanded not only of the Baroness de Bode but of her older governess, Baroness von Münster.
‘When the time is ripe your parents will answer that question,’ replied the Baroness von Münster.
‘Then I pray it may be soon,’ replied Caroline, and was silent, for she dare not bait the elderly Baroness as she did poor Madame de Bode.
To the latter she remarked that if her parents did not provide a husband for her soon she would have to find one for herself.
John Thomas Stanley was no longer at the Court. In any case she had not been seriously concerned with him. She began to look about her. There was the young Count Walmoden who had royal blood in his veins because his grandmother had been the famous mistress of George II of England. And there was another descendant of George II, the Count von Schulemberg, who was reputed to be very rich indeed, having inherited some of the vast wealth which Ermengarda von Schulemberg, Duchess of Kendal, had amassed during her long reign as the king’s favourite.
Would such young men be considered suitable consorts? Of course not. How exasperating to be a Princess and have to wait until a husband was chosen for one! If she were a commoner— not like the people in the cottages, of course, but a Baroness like Madame de Bode— she could go to the ball next week and perhaps there meet a man, fall in love, marry and have children. What bliss!
The Baroness de Bode decided that she must really speak to someone about Princess Caroline and that meant of course speaking to Madame de Hertzfeldt.
The Duchess was too vague; moreover she was English and somewhat at odds with her children’s governesses because she was constantly reiterating that they should be educated in the English way, which seemed absurd. How could the Princess be educated in the English manner without English tutors? And of what use would such an education be since she was German? And what, the Baroness asked herself, was the English method of education? If the Duchess was an example of it, then, for the sake of the Princess, she should be educated as a German.
What a household, where one must speak to the father’s mistress rather than the mother of one’s charge! But there was no help for it and no matter how resentful a good and somewhat puritanical woman like the Baroness de Bode felt when contemplating the situation, in the presence of Madame de Hertzfeldt she could have nothing but respect for that lady.
She was granted an audience immediately, for Madame de Hertzfeldt considered the bringing up of the Duke’s daughter a matter of great importance.
‘I am disturbed, Madam, by the Princess Caroline,’ began the Baroness.
Madame de Hertzfeldt sighed. Were they not all disturbed by the royal children? ‘She speaks constantly of marriage— men and children.’
‘It has been so since the Princess Charlotte married?’
‘Yes, Madam.’
‘She is now approaching the age her sister was when she married.’
‘That’s true, Madam, and I am a little fearful. I was wondering whether her freedom should be restricted a little.” Madame de Hertzfeldt was thoughtful. One would have to go very carefully.
She said: ‘Thank you, Baroness. This is a matter of some importance. I will speak of it to the Duchess.’
The Baroness retired, knowing that the admirable Madame de Hertzfeldt would speak to the Duke and together they would decide what should be done; then they would give the Duchess her instructions as to what orders she was to make known to the Princess’s governess.
It was, of course, admitted the Baroness, the discretion one would have expected from Madame de Hertzfeldt and this discretion was no doubt the reason why she reigned supreme in the Court of Brunswick.
‘Not go to the ball!’ cried Caroline, her eyes flashing. ‘And why, pray?’
‘Because,’ replied the Baroness, ‘it is decided that you shall not go. You are too young as yet to go to balls.’