There was, however, an unpleasant scene with Her Majesty to be endured.
‘I am surprised, Miss Knight,’ said the Queen, taking a pinch of snuff as though to fortify herself against the sorrows inspired by ingratitude, ‘that you have decided to give up a post which you have filled to my satisfaction for so many years. It is an astonishing thing to me that you should have come to this decision, knowing my wishes.’
There was a pause – an indication that Miss Knight might speak.
‘Your Majesty, when I received a command from His Royal Highness, the Prince Regent, I believed I had no alternative but to obey it. It did not occur to me that Your Majesty was not in complete agreement with His Highness, and although I have always striven to perform my duties to the best of my ability, I was not aware that my poor performance had been worthy of Your Majesty’s special notice.’
Clever creature! thought the Queen. She reminds me of Miss Burney and although she was not well versed in Court ways when she first came to us and often behaved quite oddly, I have missed her and regret her departure. She was sensitive and feeling, and Miss Knight has a similar quality; and now my son has taken her from me I have no power to keep her. Unless she wishes to remain, I have lost her.
There was a last hope. Suppose Miss Knight wished to remain with her.
‘His Highness is eager for you to join the Princess Charlotte’s household, I know,’ she said, ‘but I am sure, Miss Knight, that if you wished to stay in mine and made this clear to His Highness, and I added my wishes to yours, this decision could be reversed.’
‘Your Majesty is most gracious,’ replied Miss Knight, ‘but His Highness made his wishes so clear to me, and having given my word, I am sure Your Majesty will understand that I could not break that now.’
The Queen nodded. One did not plead with one’s subjects. It was not the first time that she and her eldest son had been at variance. She must be grateful now that they were in closer harmony and a small matter like this must not be allowed to ruffle the smoothness of their relationship.
She contented herself with a warning. ‘You will not find your new post a comfortable one. The Princess Charlotte can be a great concern to her household. I am sure poor Lady de Clifford had a most trying time attempting to control her. The poor creature was almost driven out of her wits. The Duchess of Leeds does not seem to me to be a very determined woman and a great deal of responsibility might fall on your shoulders.’
The intrepid Miss Knight perceptibly squared that part of her frame and a confident smile touched her lips. She who had travelled widely, had been the friend of Lord Nelson and his Emma, who had enjoyed many an animated discussion with Dr Johnson, was not going to be beaten by young Princess Charlotte. She could look to the future with confidence.
The Queen knew that she had lost Miss Knight to the Regent.
In any case, she consoled herself, the tiresome matter of Charlotte’s household could now be settled with the Duchess of Leeds and the able Miss Knight in control and many of the old household replaced – so the Queen hoped – by wiser women. Poor Mrs Gagarin was very ill and would soon no longer be with them. As for Louisa Lewis she was too insignificant to cause anxiety.
The matter was over. Charlotte who had declared she would not have another governess had been made to realize she must submit to her father’s wishes. The Queen trusted her granddaughter had learned a lesson. If that were so, she told herself virtuously, she would be fully compensated for the loss of Miss Knight.
A letter to the Morning Chronicle
THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE stood before her mirror to admire her feathers.
‘This,’ she told the admiring Louisa, ‘is an outward sign of age. The first time I have ever worn them – and how do they become me?’
‘Admirably,’ declared Louisa wholeheartedly.
‘My dear Louisa, I do believe you mean that. You do think I look beautiful, don’t you? But it’s only because you love me. You look at me through the eyes of love, dear Louisa, and that is a very pleasant way to be looked at. How I wish my father could be made to look at me in the same doting way. He looks with the eyes of criticism. Sometimes I think he wants to find something wrong. Yet perhaps he is changing. Is he not giving this ball for me? In my honour! Think of that! And at Carlton House. All that splendour and me … in feathers!’
She laughed loudly and Louisa joined with her. Charlotte was sober suddenly. ‘I must go to show myself to dear Gagy. She’ll be hurt if I don’t.’
Louisa turned away sharply. She did not want the Princess to be depressed on such an occasion, as she would certainly be when she saw the change in Mrs Gagarin even in the last few days.
Miss Knight went with Charlotte to the carriage. She was more often accompanied by Miss Knight than the Duchess whom she showed she resented. Anyone who bore the hated title of governess would be resented but the Duchess lacked the personality to win Charlotte’s respect. She thought her nouveau riche, for her marriage to the Duke of Leeds had, Charlotte had commented to Louisa, been a high step up for a lawyer’s daughter. ‘And what airs the woman gives herself – in her meek way of course. She’s anxious that everyone should know she’s a duchess.’
Moreover Mercer disliked her – mainly because she was a Tory and Mercer feared she might try to influence Charlotte’s political views.
‘No danger of that,’ Charlotte had declared hotly. ‘I’d be more Whiggish than ever just because she is a Tory.’ Which, Mercer could not refrain from pointing out, was scarcely a logical reason for forming a political opinion.
So the Duchess was a trial to be endured – though not one to give Charlotte any real qualms. In addition there was her daughter Catherine Osborne – a sly child whom Charlotte despised not only for her somewhat devious nature but because it had been suggested that the girl might be a companion for her. And she was fifteen years old! How could they insult a seventeen-year-old heiress to the throne by offering her a fifteen-year-old nonentity as a playmate! A playmate indeed – when her fancy was for a brilliant woman older than herself like the adored Mercer, and yes – she would admit it – Cornelia Knight, for she was growing more and more fond of Cornelia and she felt that one compensation which had come out of the recent shuffling of her household was the acquisition of Cornelia.
‘Dear Notte’ as she called her – an affectionate form of Knight – was a treasure. She had been to interesting places and was persona grata with fascinating people and she never hesitated, when prompted, to talk of her exciting past. The Prince liked her. He called her playfully ‘The Chevalier’. Because she was sans reproche? wondered Charlotte. Or because she went into battle for what she thought was right?
In any case, Charlotte was glad to have her, and when she was unable to be with Mercer, Notte made a good substitute.
Now riding in the carriage to Carlton House she was delighted to have Miss Knight beside her. It put the Regent in a good mood to see his daughter in such capable hands and Charlotte herself was pleased because dear old Notte was becoming so fond of her. She was always anxious that Charlotte should enjoy life as much as possible.