Wilhelmina felt very agitated and was relieved when her grandfather told her mother that he wished to speak with her alone.
Poor Wilhelmina knew that she was under discussion and felt embarrassed until some of the King's English suite began to talk to her, although she was sure that they too were trying to put her to the test, but when they told her that she had the manners and bearing of an Englishwoman she smiled wryly knowing they were trying to be complimentary.
She thought her grandfather terrifying. He never smiled; he seemed melancholy; and his only interest in her was whether she would make a suitable wife for his grandson of whom in any case he saw very little. She would be glad when he left; and almost preferred her violent father to this dour man.
That evening there was a banquet to honour the King of England. He was seated beside the Queen who talked to him as though she were not in the least in awe of him. Wilhelmina who now and then stole glances at him noticed that he had his eyes closed.
Lord Townsend was whispering to her. "I think His Majesty is unwell. Could you sign to your mother to prepare to leave the table. I am sure the King should be in his bed."
Wilhelmina rose from her chair and went to her mother and whispered what Lord Townsend had suggested.
The Queen gave her father a startled look and said: "I see Your Majesty is a little tired. We will now retire."
"I am not tired." said the King gruffly. "Pray be seated, and go on talking."
But Sophia Dorothea thought there was something strange about him and insisted that she was now going to give the sign for all to leave the table.
As she spoke she stood up. The King rose too, but even as he stood on his feet, he swayed ... and in a few seconds had collapsed on to the floor where he lay unconscious.
There was pandemonium in the hall. The King of Prussia gave orders that cushions should be brought with blankets to cover the King of England who lay still unaware of what was happening.
"He has had a paralytic seizure," said the Queen. "That this should have happened here! My poor father. Send for the physicians at once."
But before the physicians arrived the King had recovered. Almost immediately he seemed to know where he was and reaching for his wig which had fallen off, put it on his head.
"It is nothing," he said. "Here! Help me to my feet."
With the aid of the King of Prussia and Lord Townsend he stood up.
"I will conduct you to your apartments," he told his daughter.
"Your Majesty..."
"I will conduct you to your apartments," he repeated.
The assembly looked on in amazement while he did so.
Then he returned to his own apartments. There was no sign of paralysis.
"It is nothing," was the verdict. "The King merely fainted."
And after that, since it was his wish, no mention was made of the incident.
He was not inclined however to complete the negotiations for the double wedding.
"I shall come back to Hanover," he told his daughter. "The children are young yet... too young for marriage."
"I hear Frederick already has a mistress in Hanover," pointed out Sophia Dorothea.
"They are too young yet," said the King obstinately.
And that was all the satisfaction she could get.
The Ghost of the Old Leine Schloss
In spite of the fact that the King had wished to keep the news of his collapse secret he was unable to do so, and accounts of it reached England.
The Prince received them exultantly, Caroline inwardly so, but outwardly she was more restrained than her husband.
George Augustus strode up and down his wife's apartment, his wig awry, his blue eyes brilliant.
"This is the end of him," he declared. "A paralytic seizure at his age! "
"They are saying that he appears to be as veil as he vas on the day he left England."
"Impossible. I tell you this, my tear. It is my turn now. King of Englandt! How you like that, eh? King George II! "
"It sounds very veil, but let us vait a bit and be careful."
He came to the chair on which she was sitting and pinched her cheek. "Oh, you are the cautious von, alvays, my Caroline. Ve shall soon be planning our coronation."
"Let us not talk so ... even in private." She glanced over her shoulder. But he only laughed the louder. He was so sure of himself, standing on tiptoe, seeing himself in the mirror, a crown instead of the wig on his head.
Caroline was alarmed, imagining the King's spies carrying tales of his son's unseemly behaviour; would it be possible for him to have George Augustus passed over in favour of Frederick? Who knew what vindictive scheme that man might invent. And Frederick thought Caroline, what do I know of Frederick? My son is a stranger to me. We must be careful ... more so now than ever.
But how make the exuberant George Augustus understand this?
The King had returned to England. Before she saw him Caroline heard that he showed no ill effects; but she could not believe that. He was advancing into his sixties. How could a man of that age collapse mysteriously at dinner and it have no significance?
When he received her he was attended as usual by the Duchesses of Kendal and Darlington, and Caroline was immediately aware of their anxious looks. But the King had not changed at all. There was no sign of illness in his dour unwelcoming face.
Did he look at her a little sardonically? He would know of course how their hopes had soared. Was he saying: Not yet, my dear. It is not the turn of that booby of a husband of yours yet. Oh, no you have to wait, my dear.
"I have brought you a present," he told Caroline.
She was surprised and pleased for it was the first time he had brought a gift for her.
"You Majesty is gracious to me."
His lips turned up at the corners; it was as near as he could get to a smile. Was she visualizing some magnificent piece of jewellery, wondered the King. She was going to have yet another surprise and he wondered whether this one would be as unpalatable as the first, for when she had come to him she had expected to see him disabled from his so-called seizure.
He signed to one of his attendants and said that the Princess's gift was to be brought to her.
The man disappeared and when he returned there was an astonished silence throughout the apartment, for he led by a chain attached to the creature's neck what might have been a boy or a monkey. The creature stooped slightly and loped while it looked about it at the assembled company with something between fear and defiance. It was dressed in a bright blue suit lined with red, and red stockings. "It is a wild boy/' said the King. "We found him in the forest; he ran on all fours then, but he can stand up already. He lived on grass, moss, nuts and whatever he could find. I thought he would amuse Your Highness."
Caroline said, without showing her distaste or surprise: "Your Majesty is gracious."
She took the chain which was offered her and led the creature from the King's presence.
Everyone was talking of the Wild Boy and wondered what lay behind the King's motive in presenting him to the Princess. Was it because she had introduced the fashion for innoculation? Was the King hinting that as she appeared to be interested in medical science, here was an opportunity to try a further experiment?
Caroline, however, had given no sign of her dismay; the first thing she did on reaching her apartments was to send for her good friend Dr. Arbuthnot.
She showed him the boy who glared at them both from under his bushy eyebrows and Caroline asked the doctor if he thought by gentle treatment and teaching he might become normal.
"It would be interesting," she said, "to discover whether this is possible."