‘The devil take England,’ said George to Caroline. The devil take Parliament. I to Hanover vill go.’

She agreed with him that he should go. Hanover needed him. It was long since he had been there and he would not want to forget that he was the Elector as well as King of England.

He let himself be persuaded.

‘And Frederick?’ he asked. ‘Vot of that boy? I vill not take him vith me.’

‘You may safely leave him here. You know you can trust me to keep an eye on him.’

‘They vill say he vill be Regent.’

‘Valpole vill not agree to that.’

The King smiled. In the last year he had become reconciled to that fat ox. He thought that the minister always agreed with him and never saw that between them Walpole and the Queen arranged that he should agree with them. Yet George was shrewd enough to see that the country was steadier than it had been for some time; and although he thought this was due to his wise rule, he admitted to himself that he could not have managed so successfully without a reasonable chief minister. So he, like the Queen, was growing fonder of Walpole.

‘There is von only who shall be the Regent,’ said the King. He took Caroline’s hand and kissed it. ‘Who vould I trust but my dear Caroline.’ His eyes filled with tears so he did not see the triumph in hers. ‘You have been von goot vife to me, Caroline. I shall never forget.’

‘I think I am the luckiest voman in the vorld,’ she answered.

Such conversations were a delight to him; he often indulged in them when they were alone, but in company he still snubbed her and ridiculed her, because he continued to smart under the implications in that unfortunate rhyme.

A respite, the Queen was thinking. She would not have to placate him, not have to be humiliated before people; she would be able to rest now and then when she was fatigued; she would not have to walk in the park with him when her legs were swollen. She would enjoy many a delightful tête-à-tête with Walpole. They would decide policy together and not have to spend so much time planning how they should deal with the King.

But she must not show her pleasure; she must be resigned to his departure while at the same time assuring him that he could trust her to do exactly as he would during his absence.

The weather was clement for May had come; and George set sail for Hanover.


* * *

In Kensington Palace Caroline held her first Council meeting.

The Commission of Regency was read and all present came to her for the honour of kissing her hand and swearing loyalty.

The first was the Prince of Wales.

His manner several noticed was a little sullen. Was he at last beginning to be a little resentful? Was he asking himself why he, being of age and being the Prince of Wales, was denied the office of Regency during his father’s absence?


* * *

There were three men who were aware of the effect the Queen’s Regency was having on the Prince of Wales. These were Viscount Bolingbroke, William Pulteney, and William Wyndham. They were the most formidable members of the Opposition and Walpole had long considered them his greatest menace.

They met soon after the King’s departure from England and Bolingbroke, the leader of the group, talked freely of the Prince of Wales.

‘He is beginning to be piqued,’ he said. ‘Soon he will be angry. Then will come our chance.’

‘Do you think,’ asked Wyndham, ‘that we might attempt to whip up his anger a little? After all he is Prince of Wales and it is natural for a Prince of Wales to be Regent in the absence of his father.’

‘Wait a while,’ said Pulteney. ‘It may be that the time is not yet ripe. He has been here such a short while and he may believe that just now he is not in a position to be the Regent.’

Bolingbroke put in: ‘Yes, I think perhaps we should wait a while.’

His companions were a little startled, for Bolingbroke was by nature an impulsive man.

‘In a short time,’ continued Bolingbroke, ‘he will become very exasperated. Then he will be of more use to us. It is worth while to wait for a time ... But we will continue to keep a close watch.’

The others agreed and during the months that followed they watched everything that happened to the Prince of Wales; they were waiting their time when they would approach him, let him know how badly he was being treated, and so make him the figurehead of the Opposition —not only to Walpole’s Ministry but to the King and Queen.

Regency


THE Queen was busily reading letters from Hanover. The King and Townshend, who was with him, must be kept in touch with foreign affairs, although domestic matters were left to Caroline and her Council. Townshend was growing jealous of Walpole’s alliance with the Queen; the two men were brothers-in-law for Townshend had married Walpole’s sister Dorothy who had been devoted to her brother and to her husband; she it was who had been in fact responsible for the great accord between the two men and had brought them to a partnership which had been profitable to them both. But with the death of Dorothy, which had brought a great grief to both men, the alliance had weakened. Townshend, a man of almost puritanical views, began to look with distaste on the life Walpole led: drinking with his friends down at Houghton, his coarse conversation, and living openly with Maria Skerrett while his wife was alive. Moreover, they were thinking along different lines politically.