‘Hush,’ said Dorothy sharply. ‘I do not want to hear a word against the Duke. He has always behaved with courtesy and kindness. This has ended… for State reasons.’
Fanny looked at her mother in amazement.
‘You believe that? Why, he’s been chasing this heiress all through the summer.’
‘Fanny, I said be silent.’
Colonel Hawker laid his hand over Dorothy’s.
‘What is done is done,’ he said. ‘Now we have to make sure that everything is taken care of.’
Yes, thought Dorothy, she had reason to be grateful to Samuel Hawker.
William could not wait to continue his courtship. He had made with all speed to Ramsgate, taking his fifteen-year-old daughter Sophie with him to show that there was nothing clandestine in his courtship.
William had always been seen in the lampoons and cartoons as the rough sailor and although it was long since he had been to sea he was known as the ‘royal tar’, and was reputed to be without finesse and the courtly graces of his brothers.
He now started to prove this picture of him to be true. His courtship of the heiress was clumsy in the extreme; so was his gesture in taking Dorothy Jordan’s daughter with him to Ramsgate to witness it.
Sophie was bewildered and therefore sullen. She had been brought up in the homely atmosphere of Bushy where she had believed harmony reigned between her parents. Now she was suddenly exposed to the antics of an ageing father paying court to a young girl.
She was bewildered, bad-tempered and uncertain whose side to be on. She wanted to be with her mother to ask what this was all about; and on the other hand she liked the gaiety of all the festivities at Ramsgate that were to celebrate the naval fête which was in progress and was the reason why fashionable society was there.
Catherine was amused by the Duke’s pursuit. She thought him old and scarcely attractive, but he was a royal duke, and her mother had pointed out the glorious possibilities which marriage with him could bring.
Lady Tylney-Long, widow of Sir James, had had two sons and three daughters – the two sons having died and Catherine being the eldest of the girls, as one of the wealthiest heiresses in the country, was certain to have a host of suitors. Lady Tylney-Long hoped her daughter would choose wisely; but Catherine was a girl who would have her own way.
William could not help being a little piqued. He had expected that his title would have bemused Catherine to such an extent that she would have accepted him immediately.
Her mother was aware of what marriage with him could mean; but she was also aware of the difficulties of achieving it. The consent of the Prince Regent was essential; the Queen would have to approve, she supposed, and it was the custom of the family to marry German princesses.
She talked this over with Catherine.
‘It would be absolutely necessary to know that a marriage could take place before you accepted him,’ she said.
‘My dear Mamma. I am by no means certain that I am going to accept him – so we need not concern ourselves at this stage.’
‘He is devoted and impatient.’
‘And you must admit a little ridiculous. A man with a left-handed wife living – an actress who has borne him ten children! Oh, Mamma, it is an extraordinary situation in which to find oneself.’
‘You are very frivolous and thoughtless, Catherine.’
‘On the contrary, Mamma, I am both serious and thoughtful. That is why I shall keep my Lord Duke dangling for some time yet.’
And she did.
She was fascinated by William Wellesley-Pole, who was young, handsome and much more suitable than that other William of Clarence.
But a duke! her mother continued to remind her. Did she realize that there was a possibility – a remote one admittedly – of her becoming the Queen of England? The Duke of Clarence was fourth in the succession to the throne. She did think Catherine should consider that.
Catherine retorted that there was only one thing she would consider and that was her own inclinations.
Her aunt, Lady de Crespigny, who was on very friendly terms with the Duke and to whom he wrote of his passion for Catherine wrote to Catherine and to her mother to tell them that the Duke’s intentions were of a very serious nature; and she thought Catherine would be foolish not to give them the utmost consideration.
But Catherine was perverse.
‘Marriage,’ she said, ‘is a serious undertaking. I should be no more impressed by the possibility of his having a crown than he should be about my fortune. But I admit,’ she added judiciously, ‘that these considerations will not be ignored on either side.’
Meanwhile she continued to flirt with her admirers at the head of whom were William Wellesley-Pole and the Duke of Clarence.
While Dorothy waited at Bushy House for William to come and discuss the settlements which would have to be made on their separation, William stayed on at Ramsgate, behaving like a young and ardent lover.
He was writing frequently to Lady de Crespigny giving her accounts of the progress of his courtship.
‘Dear Lady Crespigny,
‘I write at this singular moment because I have just left your ladyship’s lovely and truly amiable niece after having had the happiness of dancing with Miss Long the whole of the evening…
‘Of course my attentions are clearly pointed to Miss Long, and I really flatter myself the lovely little nice angel does not hate me…
‘I went to Lady Catherine’s in the evening and escorted over to the library Miss Long. She had promised to dance two dances with Pole. I had previously obtained Lady Catherine’s consent for the whole night, and made her promise in future whilst we remain here to dance with me, and to cut the matter short I told Pole very civilly I would not give her up to any man…
‘Her dear consent is all that is wanted. Her relations wish it and so do mine. Mrs Jordan has behaved like an angel and is equally anxious for the marriage. Miss Long therefore cannot be afraid of any éclat from that quarter…
‘My two elder brothers are married and I am therefore at this moment the first unmarried man in the kingdom… The character of the third son of the King cannot be a secret and I know she likes what she has heard of me… She must be persuaded I really love her; why come to this place but to see and converse with her? In short, can Catherine Long love the Duke of Clarence?’
But in spite of his devotion and his assurances to her family that his intentions were honourable William was obliged to continue his courtship and Miss Long kept her suitors waiting on her decision.
Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, who liked to meddle, called at Bushy House. He was smarting from the affair of the murdered valet which had happened only a year or so before and it was pleasant to have the limelight turned on one of his brothers. The Dukes of Kent and Cumberland had never been on the same terms of friendship as the rest of the royal brothers. The Duke of Kent, it was said, had been in some way responsible for the exposure of the Duke of York over the Mary Anne case; now Cumberland wanted to play his part in Clarence’s affair. It was for this purpose that he went to see Dorothy.
‘My dear,’ he cried, embracing her, ‘this is terrible news. I came to commiserate with you on the misdeeds of my brother. I am ashamed that he could treat you so.’
Dorothy immediately came to her lover’s defence.
‘I am afraid it has been forced on him.’
That made Cumberland laugh.
‘Did you not know that he has been angling for Catherine Tylney-Long all through the summer? He is declaring himself passionately in love with her.’