"They say he has never yet shared her bed."
"Not he! He can't spare the time from his Magdalen."
"Well, she can't say she didn't know before. He made that clear."
"Oh yes, she knew he had no wish to marry a widow with a couple of brats."
A couple of brats! Caroline's natural dignity was offended. She wanted to confront the gossipers and demand to know how they dared refer to a Princess of Ansbach as a brat. As for her brother, he was the heir presumptive to Ansbach, for if their stepbrother had no sons he would be Margrave one day; this was the reason why he remained at Ansbach, otherwise he would be with her to help her fight her mother's battles. And the servants dared refer to him as a brat!
She was on the point of calling to them when she hesitated. What use would that be? She knew exactly how they would act. First they would swear that she had been mistaken; then they would take great care never to say anything in her hearing again which would mean that she would be completely in the dark. So how foolish it would be just for the sake of temporarily asserting her dignity, to lose an opportunity of understanding this peculiar situation.
Meanwhile the voices went on.
"I wouldn't be in Madam's shoes for all the wealth of Germany."
"Nor me, poor soul. Why it wouldn't surprise me what those two got up to ... with Mamma in the background."
"There's one I should want to watch. No, it certainly wouldn't surprise me either. She's capable of anything to get rid of Madam Eleanor and set up her darling little Magdalen in her place. If I were Madam Eleanor I'd be watchful ... very watchful indeed."
Caroline put her hand over her heart which had begun to leap uncomfortably. What did they mean? Her mother must be watchful. Could they mean that she was in danger? And if so, did she know it?
Caroline had already begun to realize that her mother was somewhat ineffectual and would never be capable of looking after herself. Someone then would have to do it for her. Who? Her eight-year-old daughter?
How could that be when she was only a child, when she was only vaguely aware of the meaning behind the intrigue which was going on about her.
How careful she would have to be! She would have to stop being a child immediately, for children could make so many mistakes. Suppose she had rushed out and protested just now, as her first impulse had directed her to do. What she would have missed! She must remember that in future. Before she did anything rash she must stop and think.
During the months which followed Caroline learned more of the state of affairs between her mother and step-father. She knew that it was a miserable marriage, undertaken with reluctance on both sides—on his because he had been forced into it for state reasons, on hers because she had been obliged to seek position and security for herself and her daughter.
In a way, thought Caroline, I am responsible; for perhaps she would never have married him but for me.
There were lessons to be done, but no one cared very much whether she did them or not. Her mother was too much engulfed in her own misery; and why should servants care whether the little girl from Ansbach grew up an ignoramus or not. She would ride a little with her few attendants, taking care to keep well out of the way; she would walk and sit in the magnificent gardens, slinking away when she heard the approach of a party; from the window of her bedchamber she would watch the open air entertainments; she would listen to the music from the ballrooms, going as near as possible but always making sure that there was a way of escape should she need it.
She kept well out of the way of her stepfather whom she regarded as an ogre and he naturally never noticed her absence; in fact he had forgotten her existence and only remembered it when, on those rare occasions when he was in the presence of his wife, he wanted to taunt her with her uselessness; and those occasions were growing less for she bored him so much that he found no pleasure even in quarrelling with her.
Caroline found little enjoyment in her mother's company either for Eleanor was in such a state of nervous tension that she could not pay much attention to her daughter; her mind was dominated by her own depressing situation and as she did not believe she could discuss this with her daughter had nothing to say to her.
A whole year had gone by since Caroline's arrival at Dresden, but she felt more than a year older. Nine years old but very knowledgeable in the ways of men and women. She had seen her stepfather with his mistress revelling in the gardens at some fete; she had watched their crude caresses. She had to grow up quickly for there was no one else to protect her mother from a fate which was none the less horrifying because her daughter did not fully understand it.
There was one at the Dresden Court of whom Magdalen von Roohlitz was in awe and that was her mother. She would never forget that it was her mother who had first put her in the Elector's way and who, once the liaison had started, conducted it so cleverly from the shadows that she had made what might have been a fleeting affaire into what it was at this time.
The extremely ambitious Madam von Roohlitz was the widow of a Colonel of the Guards; not a position in which she could have had high social ambitions if she had not possessed an outstandingly beautiful daughter. She had been the first to appreciate Magdalen's charms and assess their value. She had always known that Magdalen's brains did not match her beauty; but since she had a very clever mother this was not an insurmountable difficulty—in fact, it was proving an asset. Magdalen could make full use of her erotic genius while her mother planned calmly behind the scenes.
Magdalen had little to complain of so far. She was, in fact, astonished how easily she could please her lover when all she had to do was satisfy his sexual desires, and as hers were as eager for fulfilment as his, that was no hardship. Mother arranged all the tiresome details and was very happy to do so. That seemed a pleasant enough arrangement to Magdalen; and she was surprised to discover that Mother was not pleased.
She had come to her daughter's apartment because it was time they had a little talk.
"You need not frown, daughter. If you will do exactly as I say it will be easy enough."
Magdalen nodded and stretched her limbs luxuriously.
What a magnificent creature she is! thought her mother. It would be churlish to reproach her for not being able to think, when she is so expert in other matters.
"That man would do a great deal for you."
"He always says so."
"Talk is one thing, actions another."
Magdalen yawned.
"You must listen to me because this is important. You are a Countess now, my dear; you are very rich, and that is as it should be. I'm delighted. But things could be so much better."
"Could they?" asked Magdalen.
"Of course. What happens when important visitors arrive? Who has to receive them? You or her? Then she is brought forward, isn't she? She is after all the Electress of Saxony and his legal wife."
"He's never with her."
"That is not my point, Magdalen. She is received. She is accepted. I wish that for you."
"Well, she's his wife."
"You should tell him how humiliated you feel."
Magdalen raised her eyebrows. "How humiliated do I feel?"
"You, whom he swears he loves as he can never love another woman are snubbed, covertly insulted by visitors from other courts."
"But I'm not. Mother."