In his lodgings in St James’s Lord Hervey was waiting for the arrival of his mistress.
He had not yet tired of her for she was amusing and of course her greatest charm in his eyes was her relationship to the Prince of Wales. He needed such a fillip to rouse his desire for a woman.
For I do believe, he said, studying his reflection in the mirror in his bedchamber, I have a greater preference for members of my own sex. Dear Stephen!
They were still the best of friends, but since his deeper friendship with the Queen, his platonic but extremely enjoyable flirtation with the Princess Caroline, and his intrigue with Anne Vane, he had little time for further outlets. Stephen must understand this.
Oh dear, he thought, it is a very feminine entourage at the moment!
He was looking pale. He pulled down his lids and looked at his eyes. Not as clear as they might be! Was he taking too much rich food? His figure was as elegant as ever. He would hate to be like le gros homme. What a figure! And the man’s legs were very swollen. Weighed down with all that weight doubtless. But he had his love affairs. The one with the Skerrett woman was quite notorious.
Well, each to his taste, and now my little Vane you are overdue and I long to hear the latest exploits of His Royal Highness.
He had taken to receiving her here in his own apartments because he did not care for her house when all the servants were away—and of course they must be away for her to receive him there.
A man needed a little refreshment after the exertions of love-making. A dish of tea, a little fruit, neither very harmful for the figure and so reviving!
He smiled to think of Anne opening the door of her house for him and ushering him in. What risks they ran—at least she did. If this liaison were discovered he would merely be laughed at and perhaps admired in some quarters. He could not be more disliked by the Prince of Wales than he was at present. But she, poor girl, would be ruined. If Frederick discarded her what could she hope for? Some other man perhaps to set her up? But no one, of course, could give her the standing which the Prince of Wales could. Yes, she faced ruin for the sake of receiving him. A pleasant thought, for it was gratifying to have such devoted friends.
His wife, Molly, was away on the Continent with some friends and she would be there for some months. Well, if she knew that he were entertaining the little Vane she would only shrug her shoulders and laugh. She had never expected fidelity from him. She was faithful, but not out of love for her husband; simply because love-making—marital or extra-marital—had no charm for her.
He couldn’t have made a more successful marriage.
And here was his mistress, be-cloaked and be-hatted, to hide herself so that no one would see the Prince’s mistress entering the lodgings of that scandalous fellow, Lord Hervey.
‘My dear Anne! ‘
‘My dear lord, I thought I should never get here.’ ‘Don’t tell me His Royal Highness made difficulties?’
‘He stayed longer than I believed he would, and so delayed me.’
‘He is coming back tonight?’
‘No. I have the evening free.’
‘Then let us make the most of the time at our disposal. I have had a little supper prepared before I dismissed my servants.’
‘Supper for two?’ she asked. ‘I hope so, for although you eat like a bird, I eat like an ox.’
‘I prefer the lion and the lamb because they lie down together.’
Anne laughed and said she hoped he didn’t say such things to the Queen ... or the Princess Caroline.
‘You would be surprised if you heard what I said to them.’
‘Everyone is surprised.’
They sat down at the table and he told her that his wife would not be back for several months and as there was no danger of her coming here he did not see why they should not make his lodgings their meeting place.
‘It’s comfortable ... as far as I can see,’ she said. ‘Well, let us sup.’
‘I’m ready.’
Over supper they talked of the latest development in the estrangement between the Prince and Bubb Dodington.
‘Of course, when he bought Carlton House with money borrowed from Bubb he told his dear friend that he wanted it because it was next to his house in Pall Mall and he gave Bubb a key to the door in the wall which separated their gardens. “Call any time you like, dear Bubb. Don’t stand on ceremony in the house you have bought! “ For bought it he had. Bubb will never see his money, you can be sure. In fact Fred boasts of it and laughs every time he comes into the house. But those days are over. No more free and easy for Mr Bubb! Do you know what Fred has done?’
‘I can’t wait to hear.’
‘He’s had the door bricked up. Not secretly. He had more workmen than he needed hammering away there. He didn’t want anyone to have any doubt what it was all about. Poor Mrs Behan . . . really Mrs Bubb, you know.’
‘Interesting situation,’ commented Hervey. ‘The wife parading as the mistress. Now the other way round ...’
‘Oh, there’s some other woman in it who’d get money from him if she knew he was married to someone else.’
‘So he is a romantic after all, our poor Bubb. And two women love him! ‘
‘Love his money you mean.’
‘Well, they are only following the royal example. But the Prince is not even faithful to poor Bubb’s money!’
‘Bubb has Mrs B. She’ll look after him. He’ll never face Court after this. I think she’ll make him retire to the country.’
‘The best place for him. There is a great deal to be said for the country.’
‘There are some who think that’ll soon be my lot.’
‘What’s this?’ There was real alarm in Hervey’s voice.
‘Several of my friends are pointing out to me that Fred is seen very often in the company of Lady Archibald Hamilton.’
‘That woman! She’s all of five and thirty. She’s been married for years! Imagine it! Years of lying beside a man old enough to be her father! ‘
‘But not too old to give her ten children ‘
‘And you are afraid of a mother of ten—five and thirty years old at that! ‘
‘It’s not I who am afraid. It’s my friends who are afraid for me.’
‘Hamilton,’ mused Hervey. ‘He’s so quiet I can hardly remember what he looks like. He’s a Lord of the Admiralty, I believe.’
‘That’s so. Lord Archibald Hamilton, Scottish and complacent.’
‘Would he be complaisant too?’
‘No one ever seems to have seen him put out.’
‘A born cuckold. Beware. Some men choose their mistresses for their husbands.’
‘Not my Fred. He’d never be wise enough.’
So they chatted over the meal, and when they had finished, retired to the bedroom.
They made love and as they lay talking Anne suddenly cried out in pain.
Hervey sat up in alarm. ‘What ails you?’
‘The colic,’ she said. ‘I’ve been having it more frequently lately. I’ll be all right in a moment.’
‘Lie still,’ he said, and she lay back and closed her eyes.
She looked very ill and was suddenly seized with convulsions. Hervey remembered what she had told him of these fits to which she was subject, but he had never seen her in one before. She had once said that a physician had told her that she could die during one of her fits.
‘Anne,’ cried Hervey, ‘for God’s sake ... tell me what I can get you?’
She did not answer and he stood by the bed in dismay, looking down at her writhing body.
She is going to die, he thought. Here in my bed she is going to die. What can I do? The Prince’s mistress found dead in my bed! This will be the end of everything. Even the Queen and the Princess Caroline could not get me out of this trouble.