"I accept your word," replied the Prince.
It was dismissal, and thankfully the Reverend Johnes Knight came out into the cold December air.
When he had gone the Prince turned mournfully to Colonel Gardner.
So," he said, "we are still without our officiating clergyman."
But this was soon rectified. Colonel Gardner had discovered a man who would do what was asked.
"Your Highness," explained Colonel Gardner, "I have on this occasion taken a different approach. I believe that had we offered Rosenhagen a sum of money in the beginning we should not have had these unfortunate incidents. I am therefore offering £500 to this man and Your Highness's promise of preferment."
The Prince nodded. "And he has accepted?"
"With alacrity, sir. He is not a worldly rogue like Rosenhagen, nor an honest man like Knight. He is a young curate, ambitious, eager to marry, and looking for honours in the Church. Just the man to be prepared to take a risk in the hope of getting them."
"And you think there'll be no hitch this time?"
"None at all. He is the Reverend Robert Burt who has but recently taken Orders. I am sure that it is now safe to go ahead with our plans. I have impressed on this man the importance of secrecy."
"Importance indeed!" agreed the Prince. "You know, Gardner, that if this got to Pitt's ears he could have it stopped."
"Yes, sir. But I do not think we shall have trouble from Burt. He is most eager to serve Your Highness and for ... preferment. He will have to be given a living after the ceremony."
"He shall have it."
"And a good one, sir."
"There is one at Twickenham ... a very comfortable one ... in Mrs. Fitzherbert's own parish there. That would be most appropriate, Gardner. He shall have that."
"Then I am sure we need have no fear. If Your Highness's enemies had wind of the affair and tried to bribe him they could not give as much as that."
"I would have preferred to deal with a man like Knight."
"It is difficult to find men like Knight who will act in circumstances like this."
" That infernal Marriage Act. By God, that will go as soon as I'm on the throne."
Colonel Gardner was silent. The Prince, by marrying a Catholic, might very well have forfeited his right ever to mount the throne.
"I will give him his instructions, Your Highness. The ceremony will take place at night. That will be safer, I'm sure."
"At night" agreed the Prince.
"Say between seven or eight o'clock ... at Mrs. Fitzherbert's house in Park Street."
The Prince nodded.
"I will tell Burt that he must be walking along the street with an air of casualness. He will be met by a gentleman who shall make a comment ... as yet to be decided ... and who will bring him to the house where we shall be waiting for him."
"That is good. Ah, Gardner, my dear friend, we are moving at last. It will not be long now."
On the evening of the 15th December the little party was gathered in Park Street.
The Reverend Robert Burt walking slowly down Oxford Street and turning into Park Street was stopped by a man who greeted him as he had expected, and together they walked down Park Street to the house of Mrs. Fitzherbert which they unostentatiously entered. Assembled in the drawing room was Mrs. Fitzherbert with her brother John and her uncle Henry.
As soon as the clergyman had been ushered into the drawing room the Prince arrived. He had come very quietly on foot from Carlton House and with him was his friend Orlando Bridgeman. He had chosen Orlando who was about the same age as he was himself and had been a friend of his for some time; he was the Member of Parliament for Wigan and therefore one of the Prince's more serious friends. Moreover, being a Shropshire man he was acquainted with the Smythes, and Maria knew him well, so he seemed an admirable choice.
The Prince had explained to him that it was a friendly act to take part in this ceremony and that he was not allowing Colonel Gardner to be present because if it were discovered later that he had been party to it, it could jeopardize the Colonel's relationship with the King.
"As for you, my dear Orlando, I shall ask you to wait outside the house while the ceremony is performed, then you will not be directly involved. Also, we must be warned if anyone attempts to come into the house. It is a possibility, for if this should reach Pitt's ears, as Prime Minister he would have the right to stop the ceremony. I have waited so long, my dear friend, that I should go mad I am sure if anything happened to prevent my marriage now."
Bridgeman replied that nothing should if he could help it. He would take up his stand in the shadows at the door of the house and would immediately report if any stranger came near and sought to enter.
"Then let us waste no more time," said the Prince.
He went into the house declaring that he was there and that the ceremony should proceed without delay.
In that drawing room of the House in Park Street the Prince and Maria made their vows; and after the ceremony the Prince wrote the certificate which confirmed that on the 15th day of December of the year 1785 Maria Fitzherbert was married to George Augustus Prince of Wales.
He embraced his Maria with rapture. He had decided where the honeymoon should be spent.
Marble Hill, of course. Was she not his sweet lass of Richmond Hill? Had he not been ready to renounce a crown for her sake?
This was going to be the beginning of such happiness as she had never known. Maria believed him. This romantic marriage was so different from the others she had experienced. As the coach took them out of Park Street to Oxford Street and along the road to Richmond he told her what he would do for her. Every hostess would have to receive her if they wished to see him. She was the Princess of Wales and he would know how to deal with anyone who attempted to deny this. All that she wanted should be hers. He would give her a carriage with the royal arms on it; he would give her priceless jewels. None of which she wanted, she told him; all she wanted was his love.
An enchanting reply which delighted him. But then when did his Maria not enchant him?
He was happy; he was in love; he was married to the most beautiful woman on earth; he had eluded the fat German Princess they would have chosen for him. He had his sweet lass.
How slow the coach was! But he did not greatly care; she was there beside him, with her perfect complexion, her cloud of curly fair hair and that pure white bosom to be caressed and wept on.
The coach stopped. He looked out. Where were they?
"Hammersmith, I believe, my dearest."
"Why have we stopped?"
The coachman was at the door.
"Begging Your Highness's pardon, the roads are so blocked with snow, the horses have broken down. It will be necessary to rest here for a while, sir. There is an inn here, sir, where you could stay while we see what can be done."
So they alighted and by candlelight they supped at Hammersmith.
It mattered not where they were, said Maria, since they were together.
And fervently the Prince agreed.
Prince William's Indiscretion
The Court was at Windsor where it was housed most uncomfortably. The Castle itself was in a state of deterioration and as repairs were done now and then the King and Queen with their elder children stayed in what was known as the Upper or Queen's Lodge while the younger ones were housed in the Lower Lodge. These Lodges were gloomy and cold, the rooms small and old fashioned; there were numerous cupboards and small alcoves; the staircases were steep and dangerous; and there were so many pairs of stairs and so many passages that attendants new to the place were constantly losing their way. The fires in the small rooms during winter overheated them but the blast through the corridors was icy. Most of the household suffered from colds; and every morning during the coldest weather they were expected to attend a service in the unheated Castle chapel which was colder even than the corridors.