‘This has gone far enough,’ he said. ‘You have both proved your courage. No good can come of proceeding further.’
Pulteney’s second joined his voice to Stephen’s. This was the best way in which to end a duel. Each had been wounded; none was the victor. But they had both shown that they were ready to die to defend their honour. Wise men ended at this point. No good could come of continuing.
Pulteney was only too glad to end the affair. He had no wish to kill Hervey, nor to be killed by him.
He held out his hand. Hervey was secretly exultant too. Who wanted to die in one’s prime when life offered so much that was exciting? But Pulteney had made wounding ... and damaging comments.
He ignored the extended hand, bowed stiffly and leaning on Stephen’s arm walked away.
Stephen took him to his house and there dressed the wound in his arm; and all the time he was congratulating his friend on his escape from a situation which must never be allowed to arise again and yet had defended Hervey’s honour.
His courage vindicated, Hervey stayed briefly at Court. He saw a little of Frederick but Anne Vane kept out of his way. The Queen was courteous and kind; and quite clearly showed that she was glad he had had the courage to face his adversary; and she was even more glad that he had come through that dangerous affair unscathed.
He went back to Ickworth where Molly greeted him as usual. She had heard of the duel, but since he had returned safely and suffered no ill she saw no reason to dwell on the matter, and it was forgotten.
Molly was pregnant and in due course a son was born. Hervey decided that he should be called Frederick after the Prince of Wales and asked Frederick to come down to Ickworth for the christening. This Frederick declared himself delighted to do and the christening was performed to Molly’s satisfaction and the great joy of the neighbourhood.
Frederick gave no sign of his changed feelings for Hervey. In fact when he was with his old friend he easily slipped into the old habit of friendship and the Herveys had no idea that anything had changed.
When Anne Vane had received Hervey’s letter she had been furious. If he thought she was sitting in her apartments waiting to hear from him he was mistaken. In some respects she preferred Frederick. He was less du monde perhaps; but he was the better for that.
She re-read the note.
To act as his spy! This was a joke, and she would teach Mr Hervey a lesson.
Should she show the letter to the Prince? It might not be a bad idea when she had prepared him. But the impertinence of Lord Fanny!
In her apartments she was preparing herself to receive the Prince. He came without ceremony, for that was how he liked it. They had a great deal of fun together, riding out in the streets in hack Sedans, being carried side by side and pretending to be on the fringe of the Court. It was much more gratifying to be the Prince’s mistress than any other man’s at Court—not excepting the King. Ugh! Fancy being George’s mistress. Not much fun in that. Poor Henrietta Howard, who had held the post for so long and got all the scandal with none of the glory!
Oh, yes, it was very different to be the beloved of the Prince of Wales.
There was a little trouble looming in the not very distant future. She was certain now, but this of course wasn’t the time to mention it. However, she had made up her mind that the infant was going to be the son ... or daughter ... of a Prince. Neither Harrington nor Hervey were good enough to be named as the father of her child.
She was setting a tiny black patch close to her eyes when the Prince entered. She leaped from her stool and embraced him.
‘My Prince!’
He was delighted with her. A simple young man really; and she had had such experience of young men, so she knew exactly how to treat him.
Later when they lay side by side in her bed she talked of Hervey.
‘I have a confession to make. I feel that I can no longer keep this to myself. You mean so much to me that I can’t bear to have a secret from you. You are not my first lover.’
Even inexperienced Frederick had not thought this for one moment. He told her that everything that had gone before in their lives was nothing. The past was over; it was only the present and the future which mattered.
‘I was seduced by a man of whom I believe you have rather a high opinion. That is what has made it so difficult for me to tell you.’
‘You should not disturb yourself, dear Anne.’
‘But I do, my Prince. I think only of you. And I must tell you what is in my mind. I must warn you ...’
‘Warn me?’
‘Yes, because this man who pretends to be your friend is only using you.’
‘Using me!’
‘He hopes to. But I shall not allow it. Let me explain. I was seduced by Lord Hervey.’
The Prince coloured slightly. He was quite clearly devoted to the man. He said: ‘Well ... you are very pretty, Anne, so I suppose we must try to understand....’
‘That is not all. He cared for me no more than he cares for you. He merely wanted to use me. He wants me to act as his spy.’
‘On whom would you spy? What can you know of the Court more than he does?’
‘My dearest, this is hard to say. But he wants me to spy on you. He wants me to lead you the way he wants you to go.
‘But he is my friend. He can talk to me himself.’
She rose from the bed and put a flimsy robe over her naked body. She looked frail and very provocative. Opening a drawer she drew out a letter and began to read it to him.
He could not believe that Hervey had written so about him.
But she insisted on his reading it himself.
Then she snatched it from him and tore it into bits. She flung it up so that it was scattered over the bed; then she threw herself upon him.
‘Does he think I should ever be disloyal to my dearest Prince? Never ... never ... never!’
The Prince was overcome by such devotion, and at the moment could think of nothing but making love.
But later he began to brood on Hervey’s duplicity.
In the next few weeks the main point of discussion between Anne and Frederick was Lord Hervey, and Frederick was beginning to believe that he had been very mistaken in the man he had made his friend.
Hervey continued to write to him amusing doggerel which always made him laugh because it was directed against members of the Court. When Anne saw one of these she said: ‘It’s very funny, but I wonder how he writes about you to others!’ And that made Frederick stop to think.
All the same, as soon as he received a note from Hervey he would begin to feel the old fascination and Anne was aware of this.
Frederick needed a friend of his own sex to replace Hervey and she knew the very man.
George Bubb Dodington was one of the richest young men at Court; he was not really of very good family and would be very grateful to her if she introduced him to the Prince of Wales.
His real name was Bubb, his father being Jeremiah Bubb who had been an Irish apothecary on the look-out for a fortune, when he had discovered the daughter of George Dodington, a member of a rich and ancient family of Somerset. George Bubb was sent to Oxford and in time became Member of Parliament for Winchelsea. He added Dodington to his name and called attention to himself by his lavish spending, mostly on houses. His country mansion in Dorset, said to be as magnificent as a Palace, had been designed by Vanbrugh and contained a James Thornhill ceiling. He had also acquired two houses near London, one at Hammersmith and another in Pall Mall. He had the means at his disposal to entertain a Prince.