Now he looked with sympathy at Pitt and grimaced.

"My God," he said. "I know just how you feel, William. Just looking at you brings back the memory." He looked down at his legs and shook his head at them. "It was the drink in my case they say. Not yours, though, William. Yours was an act of God. But if I'd known that these legs of mine were going to carry a Chancellor I'd have taken better care of them when I was young.”

"Sympathy from a fellow sufferer," murmured Pitt, glancing at the letter which Northington was carrying and which he had not yet handed to him. "Very welcome. But you are not afflicted at the moment.”

"That old devil gout has given me a little respite, William. I hope to God it'll be the same with you. When you read this letter you'll feel better I'll warrant.”

"From ...”

"You've guessed, William. From George himself. He's got no faith in Rockingham's crew and by God, nor have I.”

Pitt held out his hand for the letter.

Richmond, Monday 7 July 1766 Mr. Pitt, Your very dutiful and handsome conduct the last summer makes me desirous of having your thoughts on how an able and dignified ministry may be formed. I desire therefore you will come for this salutary purpose to Town.

I cannot conclude without expressing how entirely my ideas concerning the basis on which a new Administration should be erected, are consonant to the opinion you gave on that subject in Parliament a few days before you set out for Somersetshire.

I am conveying this through the channel of the Earl of Northington as there is no man in my service on whom I so thoroughly rely, and who I know agrees with me so perfectly in the contents of this letter.

George R.

Pitt looked at Northington significantly. Hester, watching, saw the look and knew what it meant.

William looked five years younger; the lines of pain seemed to have been miraculously removed from his face. "You can guess what this means," said William.

Hester cried: "The King is asking you to form a government.”

Her husband handed her the letter. "That's what it means, would you not agree?”

"George knows he can't do without you, William," put in Northington.

"And you know you are not well enough," said Hester.

"My dear, I know only one thing. This is an opportunity I can't resist.”

"But ...”

"Listen. He has come eating out of my hand. A government on my terms. This is what I wanted.

And now George is asking for it.”

"George is growing up" said Northington. But Hester continued to look worried.

"Never fear," said her husband, 'that is the best pick-me-up I could have had.”

"So you will write to the King? said Hester.

"Without delay.”

Pitt was up; hobbling, it was true, but his improvement was miraculous. This was the life. This was what he wanted. Now particularly he explained to Hester. Did she remember how he had given England her Empire? Had he not stopped that ridiculous flittering away of men and money in Europe and turned his attention to the world beyond the seas? Well, now they were idling to lose the American colonies if he were not there to prevent it.

"Your brother's, my dear Hester I regret to say it, but your brother's iniquitous Stamp Duty will be the beginning of it all. I didn't bring America into our Empire to lose it. But we have fools for rulers, Hester, and that's the truth of it.”

He sat down at his desk and wrote to the King; his style was fulsome; at this moment he admired the King.

Sir, Penetrated with the deep sense of Your Majesty's boundless goodness to me, and with a heart overflowing with duty and zeal for the honour and, happiness of the most gracious and benign Sovereign, I shall hasten to London as fast as I possibly can; happy could I change infirmity into the wings of expedition, the sooner to be permitted the high honour to lay at Your Majesty's feet the poor but sincere offering of the small services of Your Majesty's most dutiful subject and most devoted servant.

William Pitt George read William Pitt's letter with great pleasure. Pitt was the greatest politician in the country, but he never forgot the respect due to the King. There were times when George faced a terrible possibility and because of this he wished to form a strong government in case it should be necessary to impose a Regency.

His perusal of state papers, his complete dedication to his role in life, his awareness that he had an ever-increasing knowledge of state affairs and that so many of his ministers had failed the country, gave him an impression that he knew as much as they did, that he was as capable of government. The shyness which had been due to his modesty in his youth disappeared; he had become stubborn and once he had made up his mind to a view he forced himself to believe it and cling to it at all costs. He was certain now that with Mr. Pitt, and Mr. Pitt's chosen henchmen, he and they could govern the country in the best possible manner.

So he was delighted to receive Mr. Pitt's letter. Mr. Pitt would soon be with him and in discussing the new ministry he would forget that vague nagging fear which so far he had been unable to dismiss entirely. It had given him such a sense of insecurity to know that when that illness had beset him he had for some weeks failed to be himself. He could remember little of them but they had existed. He, George the King, had been a poor creature who could not control his own mind.

A terrifying thought. But he had arranged for the Regency and the best way of ensuring that it did not happen again was to prepare in case it did.

Hannah was dead; and he need never think of her again. Charlotte was his wife and she was a good woman. She was expecting another child in September and during her pregnancies she hardly ever thought of anything else but the coming child.

Charlotte was a good wife, all that he wanted in a wife and he had nothing to complain of there.

She accepted the fact that she must live quietly and not meddle.

"I'll not have women meddling," said the King aloud; and then he thought of his mother who had meddled for as long as he could remember.

"It shall stop," said George aloud.

But there was Lord Bute whom he had had to give up for a while but who had crept back after a time; and that was all due to the Princess Dowager whose lover he was. It was, as such relationships go, a respectable liaison; but George would never approve of it. And another thing that rankled was that for so long he had believed it to be a platonic friendship, and everyone had been aware of the true nature of that liaison, except George.

Bute had been kind to him in the past, but for what reason? In the hope of power when George came to the throne. In that moment George made up his mind. He would never take Lord Bute's advice again. George's mouth was set in the familiar stubborn lines when he sat down and wrote to Lord Bute to tell him of his decision.

When he received the King's communication Lord Bute was astonished that George could write to him in such a way. When he thought of all the friendship of the past, the protestations of appreciation, the renewed affirmations that he would never happily ascend the throne unless Bute was beside him, it was unthinkable.

Bute was ambitious, George had written, and he wanted to form a party with himself at the head of it. Moreover his advice in the past had been singularly unsuccessful.

Oh, no. It could not be true! But it was; and when Bute tried to see the King he was told an audience was not at the time possible. George had changed; the amenable eager young boy had disappeared completely; and in his place was a king a simpleton, for he would always be that, but a man who was unaware of his own inadequacies.

I protest [wrote Bute to the King] I could scarcely believe my eyes when I read your letter. It is possible that you cannot see the difference between men setting up to be leaders of a party for seditious or ambitious purposes and me. I shall never be in politics in any way, and I should not ask any man to follow me since I have lost your royal favour. But I must insist that I am everlastingly devoted to Your Majesty. And I end by entreating my dear Prince to forgive me for troubling him with so tedious a letter. But I trust and pray Your Majesty will believe that I am more devoted to you than any man in this country ever was before.

Having sealed the letter and sent a messenger off with it, Lord Bute sat down heavily in his chair and leaned his elbows on his table. His mind went back to days long ago, when that other Prince of Wales, George's father, had been alive, and one rainy day at the races he had been brought into the royal tent to play whist while they waited for the rain to stop. That had been the beginning; then he had been ‘persona grata’ with the family; even the Prince of Wales had been fond of him; and when he had died it was true Bute had seen possibilities of ingratiating himself with the simple young boy who was destined to be king when his ageing grandfather died. Then of course the boy's mother, the Dowager Princess of Wales, had fallen in love with him.

What a happy situation for a Scottish peer, debarred in so many ways from promotion simply because he was Scottish and not English, to find such favour in high places! And it had continued for so many years; there was a cosy domesticity about his relationship with the Princess, who was as devoted perhaps even more so to him as he was to her; and George had treated him as a father.

And now... it had all changed.

He must report at once to the Princess for she might throw some light on the matter. As he rode through the streets he sat well back in his carriage. The people were slightly less hostile now, but they still talked of the jackboot and petticoat and could become offensive. If they made a riot, as they were constantly threatening to do, and it reached the King's ears, he would be more against him than ever. He might even forbid him to see the Princess Dowager. Oh, no, she would never allow that; and she still had some influence with the King. The Princess received him as warmly as ever.