‘Their governess is very stern. I am sure you would not object to her.’
‘I must point out that you condescended too much to them by all accounts. You were too familiar. You must never forget your station. I hope that when they come you will be careful.’
‘I promise you, dear Cliffy,’ said Charlotte demurely.
The metal she had discovered turned out not to be precious gold, but the pieces the labourers had hewn out of the rock were very pretty and she would keep them as ornaments. She wished the labourers to be brought to her so that she could give them two guineas for their work.
This was not the manner in which royal persons conducted themselves, Lady de Clifford pointed out. A royal person gave orders that money was to be paid to workmen. She did not summon them and go through the sordid business of handing them their pay.
‘Very well,’ conceded Charlotte. ‘Let the money be paid to them and tell them how pleased I am with my ornaments.’
She was at the pianoforte when the young ladies were brought to her. Lady de Clifford had arranged to be present, to make sure, thought Charlotte, laughing inwardly, that I do not become too familiar. Very well, my lady! You shall see.
She continued to play.
‘Your Highness,’ said Lady de Clifford, ‘the young ladies are here.’
Charlotte went on playing and neither Lady de Clifford nor the young ladies knew what to do. They could only stand bewildered by the antics of royalty. Then turning, Charlotte inclined her head haughtily at the girls and went on playing.
‘Your Highness!’ whispered Lady de Clifford.
Charlotte spun round on the stool and burst out laughing.
‘My dear friends,’ she said to the girls, ‘I hope I have given you enough royal dignity. It is necessary I am told for me to use it now and then. But I’m heartily sick of it and so must you be, so now that it’s done, I will be myself and we’ll play one of the games I used to play with a very dear friend. It tests your wits.’
The young ladies looked alarmed at first at the prospect of having their wits tested by a princess, but very soon she had put them at their ease and Lady de Clifford looked on with some admiration and a great deal of dismay while the Princess took charge of the situation.
When the wife of the labourer who had worked for her was brought to bed Charlotte insisted that clothes for the baby should be taken to her cottage with bed linen and anything that she might like and need in the circumstances.
The woman was overcome with gratitude and when Charlotte called to see the newborn child she thanked her and said she had always known that Her Royal Highness was the most generous of ladies and had never believed for one moment she was not.
‘Why should you have been expected to doubt it?’ demanded Charlotte.
‘Because my husband and his friend received no payment for the work they did for Your Highness. But this, Madam, is payment enough. Your goodness came to us at a time when we most needed it.’
‘No payment!’ cried Charlotte, a little colour coming into her pale cheeks. ‘Why, I paid them two guineas for the work they did.’
‘Two guineas, Your Highness? Why, they never set eyes on it.’
Charlotte was in a rage. She went straight back to the house and demanded an inquiry, and it was not long before she discovered the page who had pocketed the two guineas.
‘You wicked dishonest boy!’ she cried. ‘You are no longer my servant. You … you shall be beaten. Take him away. I n … never want to see him again. And send two guineas to those men at once.’
Her fury was intense; but in a short while it had subsided and she began to wonder what had made the page do it. He was young but it was a wicked thing to do. She would not have him beaten, however; he should simply be dismissed.
But the affair made her very unhappy.
‘In future,’ she declared to Mrs Udney, ‘I shall see that these debts are paid myself. Even if it does mean a little familiarity with those my lady does not think fit to mix with me.’
Mrs Udney told Lady de Clifford what she had said and Lady de Clifford sighed and remarked that Charlotte was a wild creature and it was no use anyone’s thinking they could instil discipline into such a girl.
‘But her heart is good,’ said Lady de Clifford, ‘that is one thing which keeps me from despair.’
‘My word,’ said Mrs Udney. ‘Wait till the time comes to get her mated. Then the sparks will fly.’
‘That time will come all too soon,’ murmured Lady de Clifford. ‘I pray God I am not in charge of her household when it does.’
Mrs Udney licked her lips, contemplating Charlotte’s fiery future, while Lady de Clifford continued her silent prayer.
So passed those summer weeks by the sea. Charlotte enjoyed them and was sad to see the shortening of the days. But autumn was fast approaching and the chilly winds were springing up.
‘It is time Charlotte left Bognor,’ said the Queen to the Prince of Wales, who agreed, with some reluctance, that this was so.
So Charlotte left the sea and comparative freedom to return to the restricted life of an heiress to the throne.
The arrival of Mercer
THE CARRIAGE RATTLED along through the streets. In it sat Charlotte, simply dressed in a dark-green cloak and straw hat trimmed with rosebuds; she might have been any well-bred young lady taking a drive.
Beside her was Lady de Clifford, whose lips were a little pursed. She heartily disliked these excursions and believed they were bad for the Princess. But she agreed that something had to be done and perhaps it was better for Charlotte to go to Spring Gardens than to Blackheath. However, the King had given his permission, so there was no more to be said. Charlotte was going to pay her weekly visit to her grandmother, the Duchess of Brunswick; she would spend two hours there and during those two hours she would meet her mother.
The Princess herself looked forward to the visits; although she felt little affection for her grandmother, a silly old woman who chattered incessantly, she was excited by her mother. As for the Princess Caroline, she was in a state of hysterical joy to be reunited with her daughter.
It’s all a little unhealthy, thought Lady de Clifford.
New Street, Spring Gardens! What a residence for a princess. And one must remember that the Duchess of Brunswick had once been the Princess Royal of England.
But her dignity turned the dingy old house into a palace. She received there and expected all the homage due to her rank. Poor thing, thought Lady de Clifford, I doubt she had much of that in Brunswick, by all accounts.
The carriage drew up and Charlotte and her governess alighted. Few people noticed them, but of course once the papers began letting the people know that Charlotte visited her grandmother once a week and there met her mother, there might be crowds to see her. Lady de Clifford shuddered. The mob was so crude. They shouted such things … not fit for the ears of a young girl.
Charlotte’s heart beat fast as she entered the gloomy house. Poor Grandmamma Brunswick had few servants but she made the most of what she had. And her footman bowed as low and with as much dignity as if he were ushering her into Carlton House or St James’s.
But the Princess of Wales was noted for her contempt of ceremony. She was waiting in the lower room for her daughter and as soon as she saw her she flew at her.
Charlotte was aware of a highly coloured face, rouged and daubed with white lead; the Princess’s heavy brows owed their existence to paint and her enormous black curly wig always became a little awry in these emotional encounters. Her low-cut gown exposed a large white bosom which seemed to overbalance her short body and give her a pear-shaped look. She never appeared to be freshly clean, but the great charm about her was the warmth of her love for her daughter.