‘Mr Garrick? What has he to do with this?’
‘What indeed! Did he not teach you what you most needed to know when you most needed it? Mr Garrick would never have understood your throwing away a great career.’
‘Mr Garrick understood the theatre so well, but did not understand love.’
‘I’ll warrant he did. Could he have been the greatest actor otherwise? So you will leave us.’ He looked at her. He must warn her. He would not forgive himself otherwise.
‘Perdita, this is a big step you are taking.’
She nodded dramatically.
‘Princes are perhaps more fickle than most men.’
‘What are you suggesting?’
‘What if this love should not last?’
‘He has sworn to be faithful till death.’
‘By the moon, the inconstant moon, Juliet?’
‘He swore by all he holds most sacred.’
‘What a man holds sacred one day he finds profane the next. I am an old friend, Perdita. Take care. Consider before you throw away a certain future for an uncertain one.’
‘I cannot grasp your meaning.’
‘Because you will not. Has it not occurred to you that the Prince might desire another woman?’
‘I see you make the common mistake of presuming this is an ordinary light affair.’
‘I hope I am making that mistake, Perdita.’
‘But I know you are. And I know you, Sherry. You are angry with me … that is why you say these things. I am not ungrateful. I know what you have done for me. Mistake that not. But this is my future. I must obey the Prince.’
‘For if you did not he would cast you aside?’
She flushed. ‘Never. But I must think of him … first. I owe it to him.’
‘You mean the Prince’s mistress should not appear on the boards.’
‘Sherry!’
He laughed inwardly. What a woman. She could not bear the use of that word which was commonly used to describe what she was. He felt an affection for poor Perdita. She was such a fool. And this was particularly noticeable after one had so recently been in the company of Mr Fox.
Mr Fox! His mind was alert. This very day Mr Fox had called to offer a dazzling prospect … this day when Perdita had come to offer her resignation.
Could there be any significance in this? Could Mr Fox have known she would come? But how could he? He was only just acquainted with Perdita. And she would never have confided in him. And yet … here was this new proposition side by side with the certainty that theatrical business must suffer a setback.
Suppose Mr Fox wished no obstacle to be put in the way of this love affair between the Prince and Perdita – suppose it was Mr Fox’s desire that the Prince should set up his mistress in a fine house and the whole world know of the relationship between them? Then he would not wish Mr Sheridan to persuade Perdita of the follies of leaving the stage, of the inconstancy of princes. He had not said so, but politics was a game of innuendoes. And surely it was a strange coincidence that Mr Fox had called on this very day when Perdita was handing in her resignation?
Had the subtle game of intrigue already begun? It excited him to think so. Rarely, he supposed, had he been so flattered in his life.
Mr Fox planned to use the Prince … and perhaps Perdita.
She was looking at him earnestly. ‘If, as you so unkindly suggest … But Sherry I know you do not do it from unkind motives for you have always been my friend … If the Prince should … If the Prince and I should no longer be together … why then, Sherry dear, I should most certainly come back to the stage.’
He did not explain to her once more that he doubted she would be able to do that. He was concerned with his own affairs which seemed to him of far greater importance than the amours of a Prince and an actress.
‘Thank you, Sherry, for taking it so … magnificently.’
She held out her hand for him to kiss, a pretty, wistful expression in her beautiful dark eyes.
Then she returned home to report to Mrs Armistead: ‘Mr Sheridan was certainly distressed, but he took it better than I thought he would. I have always known that he was my very good friend.’
The Duke of Gloucester drove out to Kew to see his brother. When he asked for an audience the King received him immediately. He had always been fond of Gloucester. Cumberland was the brother he detested. But there had certainly been a breach between them over his brother’s marriage. The King had been hurt to have been kept out of his brother’s confidence, yet he had to admit that had Gloucester asked his permission to marry Lady Waldegrave he would have refused it. He would have told Gloucester that a Prince of the Blood Royal could not marry a woman who was not only illegitimate but was said to be the daughter of a milliner.
So Gloucester had married without his sovereign’s consent and kept the matter a secret until the passing of the Royal Marriage Act had forced him to reveal it.
And then … George had refused to receive him officially and Charlotte had said she would never make a milliner’s daughter welcome at her Court. But the King was a sentimental man, a family man, and although the Duchess was not received, the King was always pleased to see his brother.
‘Well, well, William,’ said George. ‘Be seated, be seated.’
William sat and thought poor old George looked older than when he had last seen him. That affair of the Gordon Riots must have upset him. What a decision to make and fancy old George having the guts to make it. Firing on his own subjects, eh? Right, absolutely right in the circumstances and George had earned the approval of his grateful capital – which was something rare for the poor old fellow.
William – content with his life and his Duchess – felt sorry for George’s hard lot. Not much fun in being the King, particularly for a man like George who took himself seriously. It would be different when the Prince took over. Not for many years yet, he trusted. Couldn’t help being fond of good old George although he was a pompous, self-righteous old devil now and then.
‘I’ve come to talk with you, George, about the Prince.’
An expression of anxiety crossed the King’s face.
‘What? Eh? What’s he been at now, eh? You’ve heard something. Rumours … rumours … there are always rumours. Some of them true too … about that young puppy …’
‘He’s been up to nothing that I know of, George. Only pleasing the people. I hear nothing but praise for him wherever I go. He’s won the people’s approval without doubt.’
‘Because he’s got a handsome face … not yet marked with evil living. Because he’s been well looked after all these years … diet, exercise, discipline. All very necessary, eh, what?’
‘He certainly does his upbringing credit. The point is, he’ll be eighteen in August.’
‘A fact I’m not allowed to forget.’
‘With his own establishment …’
The King grunted.
‘I should like to have an opportunity of seeing him, George. It’s a long time since I have.’
‘People who act rashly take the consequences. Why, your marriage has given offence to all the royal families in Europe. Marrying a woman who …’
‘I am happy in my marriage, George, and regret nothing.’
The King’s eyes were momentarily clouded with emotion. ‘Wouldn’t have wanted to hear you say aught else,’ he said gruffly. ‘Still, you must understand. I can’t have the Duchess at Court. The Queen wouldn’t hear of it.’
‘Don’t expect me to believe that if the King gave the order, the Queen would not obey.’
‘There are some matters she must be the judge of, eh, what?’
Gloucester said: ‘I came to ask your permission for an interview with my nephew. Don’t you think that we should have a chance to know each other? Should members of families be kept apart?’