Pitt despised the little man, but shrugged aside his duplicity. There were more important matters ahead than the assessing of a King’s character – which would doubtless prove not worth the trouble.
‘It is a small electorate, Sire,’ he repeated, ‘and there is Canada and America… needing our attention.’
Hanover lost! It was terrible. It was unthinkable. The King wept with emotion, thinking of the Alte Palais where he had lived in his boyhood; the old Leine Schloss where assassins had murdered his mother’s lover, the Count of Königsmarck, Herrenhausen where his grandmother had lived for so long and dreamed of becoming Queen of England. In the hands of the French!
I cannot bear to think of it, he mourned.
He had given his consent that it should be signed away. It was like betraying his family. He could imagine Caroline’s eyes regarding him sorrowfully. What would she have said could she have been here? He could hear his father’s voice cursing him in German.
George II of England who had lost Hanover to the French! He would not admit it… even here in the seclusion of his own apartments. It was not he who had lost it. It was that blockhead… Willie… who had been Caroline’s favourite son. Her Duke of Cumberland whom she had said so many times she wished had been the eldest of the family instead of Fred. They had agreed that Willie would have been the better King. Willie had been brought up in England; he spoke English like an Englishman. He had always wanted to be a soldier. Willie had been their darling as a child. So bright… so loving. Different from the canaille Fred – Caroline had declared. And now William was the one who had sold Hanover to the French. But the fault was William’s, for no one was going to blame him, the King.
He had already forgotten that he had agreed with his German Council to save Bremen, Verden and the armies. The English had known nothing of this. None of their business, snorted George. But Mr Pitt had known. Mr Pitt was one of those men who were aware of everything.
It was a false step. He saw that now. Willie should have fought. He should have ignored the instructions of the German Council backed by his father.
It was true that after his agreement with the Council the King had had his misgivings and had even drafted a letter to Willie telling him to fight to hold Hanover at all costs.
He rummaged in a drawer and found a draft of the letter. It had never been sent, but its existence seemed to exonerate him, since it was a command to the Duke of Cumberland to fight and hold Hanover.
‘I wrote that,’ cried the King triumphantly. ‘I told him to fight.’
The Princess Augusta was secretly delighted. ‘Hanover lost!’ she cried. ‘This is Cumberland’s doing.’
‘It will be interesting to see His Majesty’s reactions to Billy the Butcher now,’ replied Bubb Dodington who was often in her company and that of Lord Bute.
‘This is the son he would like to have seen King,’ added Bute.
‘Constantly comparing him with Fred,’ agreed Bubb. ‘I remember Fred could not stand the sight of him.’
‘And I don’t blame him. The Butcher! He would like to get our George under his wing.’
‘And teach him how to be a soldier, I don’t doubt,’ retorted Bute with a sneer.
‘And throw away his kingdom to the French,’ put in Augusta.
‘It strikes me,’ said Bubb, ‘that we’re well rid of the place. It was constantly draining the exchequer and was not much good to us.’ He shrugged and changed the subject. ‘The Prince seems to have grown up lately.’
‘Grown up!’ cried the Princess, alert. ‘What do you mean, sir?’
‘I thought I detected a change in His Highness. A certain dignity… which wasn’t there before. He seems to carry his head higher… Pleased with life and yet…’
‘And yet, sir?’
‘Well,’ said Bubb ‘he seems a little preoccupied with his thoughts.’
‘George never has any thoughts,’ said the Princess sharply. ‘At least, if he has any misgivings he would bring them at once to one of us.’
‘Then I daresay he has already told you of his… cares.’
‘He confided in us,’ said the Princess shortly.
‘In everything!’ added Bute.
When the Duke of Cumberland arrived at Court he was dumbfounded to find the cold reception which awaited him. He did not expect the welcome of a conquering hero naturally, but he had acted on orders and had obeyed the King’s command, although it was contrary to his own inclinations. He was no coward; he had never been one to withdraw from a battle, even when the cause was hopeless. And in this instance he believed there had been a chance.
Baron Munchausen, the Hanoverian Minister in England, was so incensed by the loss of Hanover that he wanted to call a council and have the Duke’s behaviour examined. He declared he had copies of the letters he had sent to the Duke. These would show that in surrendering Hanover the Duke had used his own initiative and that there had been no orders from St James’s to do so. But Mr Pitt – a man who had little friendship for the Duke – was the one to defend him. Hanover was temporarily lost, was Mr Pitt’s reasoning; the Duke had surrendered it on orders from London; there was no point in denying this just to save some people’s faces. The deed was done; Hanover was lost; the best way of dealing with the matter was to face up to the truth; and the truth was that the Duke had acted on orders; England had for the time being lost a small electorate of little account; and her prospects on the American continent were promising.
‘Bury the past and over its grave build up the future; in that way it will soon be forgotten there is grave there.’
But Baron Munchausen could only cry: ‘But this is Hanover!’
Mr Fox had known of the Duke of Cumberland’s arrival and had come in readiness to greet him. Fox and Pitt were of one mind on this matter. The Duke was being used as a scapegoat and they, being men of honour, were offering him their support. Pitt was against nepotism which he saw as the downfall of the army and therefore of the country, and was firmly opposed to the appointment of a commander because he was a King’s son; but Cumberland was a brave soldier, and he was being unfairly treated in this instance, albeit by his own father. Mr Fox agreed with him in this matter – so Fox was there to support the Duke.
Fox was a politician of brilliance, though he lacked Pitt’s eloquence; in fact he was a poor speaker, hesitant and unable to express himself with grace; but he had a sharp mind and was a match for any orator, even Pitt, by his calm reasoning powers. He never attempted to rely on rhetoric; reason was his weapon. He and Pitt admired each other; they were two ambitious men, tremendously envious of each other’s success; and Fox was more popular than Pitt, whose affectations irritated many. But they recognized the other’s talents and in this affair they stood eye to eye.
The Duke thanked Mr Fox for being at Kensington to meet him when he was informed of the reason why the minister had come.
‘I am well in mind and body,’ the Duke told him; ‘and I have written orders in my pocket for everything I did. And now, Mr Fox, you should take your leave as I do not wish it to be said that I have taken the advice of anyone on what I plan to do.’
Fox understood this and retired, but the Duke must have been extremely comforted to know that he had powerful men on his side.
The King hearing that his son was in Kensington Palace became more irascible than usual. He had to see the fellow, the fool who had lost Hanover. But in his heart he knew that the reason why William had not fought to save Hanover was because he had been commanded to give it up. George would not admit it. He could not face the fact that he was the King to have lost Hanover. It had to be someone else’s fault. Caroline had always shielded him. She had let him believe that suggestions were his when they were hers or Walpole’s. It had been such a comforting way of life. And here he was an old man… without Caroline – and Hanover lost.