Spoken with utter pomposity and condescension. God, she hated men sometimes.
“Don’t you dare accuse me of nonsense,” Charlotte bit off. “You shall take me home. Now. And you cannot refuse me. When we came here, you told me you could not say no to the British Empire, and now I am their Queen.”
“You are emotional,” Adolphus said.
“Please,” she drawled, “say that one more time. I shall have you beheaded.”
“Charlotte,” he said, in just the most patronizing tone, “inside you ripens the fruit of England. And until that fruit is ripe, your body is but a . . .”
“Do not call me a flower,” she warned.
“A tree,” he said instead.
Such an improvement.
“You are a tree in the orchard of the Crown. And at such a time as it will bloom—”
“I am a tree,” Charlotte said flatly. She was going to kill him.
“I mean to say only that the child inside you is not yours.”
“It is my body that is growing it.”
“What matter?”
“What matter? You grow it, then.”
“Your body is not your own,” Adolphus said sternly. “To leave the kingdom now would be treason. King-napping. An act of war, perhaps.”
“I only want to be home,” Charlotte said. She could hear the tears burbling beneath her voice. She’d known she was unhappy, but she had not realized just how desperately so until she’d seen her brother’s face. “I want to be at Schloss Mirow. With my own family,” she said. She was trying so hard not to cry.
Queens did not cry.
“I am not your family now,” Adolphus said. He sounded regretful, but not enough to help her.
“Of course not,” she muttered. “I have been bartered like livestock. You sold me.”
“Charlotte.”
“It is true. You sold me, and that means my family is no longer my own.”
“King George is your family now,” Adolphus said. “Unless—” His face took on an expression of true concern. “Is there something wrong, Charlotte? Something, perhaps, that you could not put into writing?”
“No,” she said quickly. Hopefully not too quickly. But she could not reveal George’s secret. She was desperately unhappy, but she could never betray him this way. Whatever was happening, it was not his fault.
Adolphus continued to probe. “He is not hurting you, is he?”
“No, of course not. Everything is fine.”
She must have convinced him because he said, “That is a relief to hear. It would have been most difficult to take a stand. I would have done so, of course. You are my sister. But still.”
She wasn’t sure she liked the level of relief in his tone. “What are you saying, Adolphus?”
He noticed a plate of biscuits on a side table and walked over to take one. “I negotiated your engagement brilliantly. I was able to forge an alliance between our province and Great Britain.”
“An alliance,” Charlotte said. “That is why you married me off to these people?”
“It was good for everyone.” He took a bite. “This is delicious.”
“Adolphus.”
“Sorry.” He chewed and swallowed. “But, Charlotte, the lions were at the gate. This alliance, it means Mecklenburg-Strelitz is defended by the might of Great Britain.”
“Of course,” she said. She already knew all of this. It was simply the first time her brother had said it so explicitly.
“Our fates are tied,” Adolphus continued, oblivious to her turmoil. “Which is why it is good you are happy here.”
She stared at him.
He smiled cluelessly.
“But what would it matter?” she said with a sigh. “My body is his, is it not? My body belongs to the entire bloody country.”
“Charl—”
“We have Tartarian pheasants now,” she announced. And she smiled. Her beautiful, empty, queenly smile. “Would you like to see them?”
His entire face lit up. “That would be marvelous. Show me everything. What a life you lead, Sister. Simply glorious.”
Glorious, indeed.
Buckingham House
The Dining Room
Later that evening
As usual, Augusta was inescapable. Charlotte had hoped for a relatively informal meal with her brother, but once the Dowager Princess heard that he was in residence, she insisted upon joining them.
“It is so lovely of you to pay your sister a visit,” Augusta said. “When I married, I hardly saw my family again. Charlotte, you are fortunate.”
Charlotte stared down at her plate. Sole meunière. With George gone, they were allowed to eat fish.
“Charlotte?”
“Hmmm?” She broke out of her daze. Her brother was regarding her with concern. So was Augusta. Or whatever it was that passed for concern on her face.
“She’s exhausted,” Augusta said. “Confinement. I remember it well. Carrying a future king is not easy.”
“It could be a girl,” Charlotte murmured.
“And of course that would be perfectly acceptable,” Augusta said. “I myself had a daughter before my darling George.” She turned to Adolphus. “She will likely be married soon. We are in negotiations with the House of Brunswick.”
“My felicitations.”
Charlotte sighed.
“Where is the current King?” Adolphus asked. “Will His Majesty be joining us?”
“His Majesty has business,” Augusta said, dabbing her mouth delicately with her napkin. “Charlotte has been such a support for him.”
Charlotte stared at the window. She could go through that window. She’d open it first; she was not that insane. But she could go through it and just walk away.
“Your Majesty?” Augusta said pointedly.
Charlotte blinked. “I’m sorry.”
“We were talking about what a support you are for His Majesty.”
“Oh. Yes, of course.” She managed a small smile. “I write him letters.”
“Letters?” Adolphus asked.
“He is at Kew,” Charlotte replied. She brought a bite of sole to her mouth, then put it down. Too fishy for her pregnant nose. Wasn’t that just the most exquisite irony? She finally had fish at the table and couldn’t bear to eat it.
“Kew?” Adolphus said.
“It is His Majesty’s other London estate,” Augusta said quickly. She shot a warning look to Charlotte.
Charlotte closed her eyes. She was tired.
“Is it near to Buckingham House?” Adolphus asked.
“Oh yes,” Augusta said. “Very near. It is where he likes to conduct his scientific experiments. He has an observatory.”
“Yes,” Charlotte said dutifully. “It is a one-of-a-kind magnificent observatory. The only one in England.”
“Georgie has quite the brilliant mind,” Augusta went on. “Truly, one of the greatest of our generation. He must remain undisturbed while he carries out his work.”
Adolphus looked at Charlotte. She nodded and turned back to the window. What would everyone say if she just got up and walked over to it? What would they do?
Would she even be able to get it open? She’d never seen that window open. It might be sticky.
A door would be better. It wouldn’t be as dramatic an exit, but there was value in simplicity and ease. Would anyone stop her if she got up and walked out? If she just kept going?
She nudged the uneaten fish off her fork and instead cut a small boiled potato in two. She wasn’t really hungry, but she had to eat something, if for no other reason than she’d hear about it later from Augusta.
The King’s mother had many opinions on the topic of how best to gestate a future monarch.