'Money, money, money,' cried the King. 'Can you never have enough of it.'
The Duke of York placed his hand on his heart and bowed. 'Never, sir,' he said vehemently.
The King eyed his favourite son with affection.
'Now,' he said to him: 'There is one condition I must make before your debts are settled, my son.'
'Name it,' cried the Duke. 4 I accept it.'
'Without hearing what it is, eh, what?'
'The pressing demands of my creditors are the most urgent consideration in my life, sir.'
'It's marriage,' said the King. 'You must marry without dc lay.'
The Duke grimaced. 'Well, I'm ready to consider it, sir.'
'More sensible than your brother.' The King's eyes were clouded suddenly. 'You are all a great worry to me. There's William setting up house with a play-actress... a Mrs. Jordan ... and aping a respectable married man.'
'Better than aping a disreputable one, sir.'
These sons of his disconcerted him. They could not be serious when situations demanded seriousness. 'There's your brother, the Prince of Wales ... Oh, I don't know ... I do not know. I can't sleep of nights thinking of you all and wondering what will become of you. You understand that, eh, what?'
The Duke said gently: 'Don't fret over me, Father. I will marry when you wish and whom you choose for me.'
The King embraced his son. 'Frederick ... I always said you were the Hope of the House. I always knew you would not fret me as your brother does.'
'George does not mean to, Father. It's easier to be the Duke of York than the Prince of Wales. Besides, George is more flamboyant than I am . . . Larger than life, that's George. He's a fine fellow at heart. You can't blame him.' 'You always stood together, you two.' 'We never forget we're brothers.'
The King was weeping silently. Then he said: 'There won't be much delay. The Princess Royal of Prussia is the lady suggested for you, Frederica Charlotte Ulrica. You must make your preparations without delay for I think your brother's reluctance to consider providing us with an heir to the Crown makes this a necessity.'
He would do it, said the Duke, not only for the settlement oi his debts but for the sake of his dear brother George.
# * *
Frederick left almost immediately for Berlin where he was
married to his bride. He was not very pleased with her for she was small, exceedingly plain and badly pockmarked; and she was no more pleased with him than he was with her. If he thought that he was doing her an honour by marrying her, she implied, she wished quickly to disillusion him. He might be the son of the King of England but she was the daughter of the King of Prussia—and in her eyes Prussia was of no less importance in the world than England.
The Duke shrugged his shoulders, went through the ceremony and consoled himself with the thought that marriage was not going to interfere with his life very much. He would do his duty—if possible provide an heir—and then go back to the pleasures of his bachelor existence. When he looked at his ugly little wife who constantly smelt of the animals which she kept in her apartments he consoled himself with the reminder that he had done it for George.
The wedding ceremony over they set out for England but unfortunately were obliged to travel through France—where the Revolution was raging. On more than one occasion their retinue was held up by a bloodthirsty mob and only the proof that they were not French royalists attempting to escape but an English Prince and a German Princess who had no concern with French internal affairs saved their lives, though the royal trappings were torn from their carriages and only then were they reluctantly allowed to escape.
It was November by the time they reached England and there another ceremony must take place; in this the Prince of Wales was selected to give the bride away.
The night before the ceremony the Duke of York was at Carlton House where he gave an account of his adventures to his brother.
'By God, George,' he said, 'revolution is a fearful thing. One doesn't realize it until one is in the midst of it. If it came here...'
The Prince was horrified at the thought.
'The royal family of France ... treated as they are. If you could have seen those people ... I never saw such fanatical hatred. It brings home to you how quickly the mob can rise up. The mob is always there ... that element of the people that
wants to take what others have, the envious, the bloodthirsty. By God, George, when those people surrounded our coach it was an experience I shall never forget. One has to be watchful of the people. One has to please the people one rules. No doubt of it.'
The Prince thought of the crowds which had surrounded his carriage after the King's recovery. Murderous lot! They wanted their rulers to behave according to a certain code. The Gordon Riots which had happened some years ago ... that was the nearest England had come to the sort of thing that was happening now in France. The cry of 'No Popery' had filled the streets. The people of England wanted a Protestant monarchy; they had turned out the Stuarts because they were Catholics. And he, the Prince of Wales, had gone through a ceremony of marriage with a Papist. Maria ... everything came back to Maria. He was unpopular with the people because of Maria.
He changed the subject hastily. He hated to talk of unpleasant things.
'Well, here you are safe and sound—and a bridegroom. Do you love your wife?'
The Duke grimaced. 'To tell the truth I do not know whether I shall even be able to tolerate her. She is an arrogant little creature, very much aware of her dignity. And she is threatening to surround herself with animals ... dogs ... not one or two ... but twenty of them. And monkeys, if you please. She prefers them to the human animal, I do declare.'
'My poor Frederick!'
'You may well condone. Lucky George with your Maria.'
'Maria is a woman in a million. I shall expect your Frederica to receive her and treat her with the dignity due to ...'
'To the Princess of Wales? You can be sure I shall do my best to insist on this. But she is a selfwilled woman.'
'Maria will expect to be treated as her sister-in-law.'
'I will do my best,' promised Frederick.
The next day at the marriage ceremony the bride was given away by the Prince of Wales. The streets were lined with people to see the bride and groom, for it was believed that since the Prince of Wales had contracted a marriage with
M
Maria Fitzhcrbert which could never be acknowledged, this plain little German Princess might well one day be the Queen of England.
Frederick was soon wishing he had never married. He had believed that at least he could tolerate his wife, but that was not possible when she filled their house with animals of all descriptions. He lost count of the number of dogs, whose habits were none too clean; she had cages of parrots in every room; monkeys roamed through corridors and hung on bedposts and banisters.
Moreover, although she had received Mrs. Fitzherbert she showed quite clearly that she considered her merely the mistress of the Prince of Wales and that she had no intention of becoming on intimate terms with a woman in such a position.
Maria was incensed. It was not often that she lost her temper but she did over the Duchess of York. How dared the plain malodorous creature treat her with such haughty contempt! The Prince must insist that she stop that.
The Prince spoke to the Duke of York who declared that he had done everything in his power to make his wife treat Maria with due respect; she simply refused.
'But, Fred, you could insist.'
'I do assure you, George, that I cannot make her do what she has decided not to. She is the most stubborn, arrogant creature you ever set eyes on.'