‘Oh, Mamma, you are so … so …’
‘So what, my love?’
Charlotte could not say ‘So strange’, which was what she had meant, and she was too weak to think of any other way of expressing what she meant. So she substituted: ‘So … so dear to me.’
Caroline bent over her and kissed her.
‘Oh, Mamma, I am con … contagious.’
‘Dearest child, I wouldn’t care if you were a leper. I’d still kiss you.’
Charlotte was so tired she could scarcely keep her eyes open but Caroline did not seem to notice this. She sat by the bed and talked of the good times they would have together when Charlotte was well and they had found some way of flouting the rule that they were to meet only once a week.
Lady de Clifford was pacing up and down in the next room, asking herself how she could remove the Princess of Wales and what the Prince and the Queen were going to say when they knew that the woman had visited her daughter.
The Prince summoned Lady de Clifford. He bowed and bade her sit down. His manners, she thought, were impeccable. He had the gift of making one want to serve him with all one’s power; and she was very unhappy because she knew that however charming he might be outwardly, inwardly he was displeased.
‘My daughter is making a good recovery in your very capable hands,’ he said, to put her at her case. In spite of his bulk he was very handsome and Lady de Clifford was almost on the edge of tears because she had failed in her duty.
‘Thank you, Lady de Clifford, for all your care of her.’
‘Your Highness … if I could believe you were pleased with me I should be very happy, but I fear …’
He was all concern. ‘This unfortunate visit of the Princess of Wales?’ he said, and coldness came into his voice when he said her name.
‘Sir, I do not seek to excuse myself. I knew your wishes. I can only say that the Princess of Wales took us all by surprise. We had no notion …’
He nodded. ‘I understand that. I understand full well. She stormed into the room before she could be prevented. That is the case, is it not?’
‘Exactly so, sir.’
‘I think,’ he said, with that famous smile and the slight crinkling of the nose which made it lovable, ‘that we had better forget it. We can say that the Princess of Wales had an excuse because her daughter was ill. But I think we should take precautions that it does not happen again, don’t you?’
‘I am sure it will not. I am sure all concerned must be upset because they fear they may have failed in their duty, which is to serve Your Highness.’
‘Then that is well.’
With the utmost grace he had indicated that the interview was over; she rose and took her leave, feeling that whatever happened she would see that no one in her household ever displeased him again.
When Charlotte recovered she went to Bognor and there revelled in her freedom and was soon full of health again.
It was wonderful to be there, to sample Mr Richardson’s buns once more and to stroll along the shore looking for seaweed and anything the waves had washed up; she rode her carriage and four greys through the country lanes; she talked to the people.
Those were happy days; but back at Carlton House she soon discovered that there was a great deal of friction in her household.
The two chief combatants were Dr Nott and Mrs Udney; their dislike of each other had gradually grown and now they could scarcely hide it.
Quarrels constantly broke out between them; they criticized each other. Dr Nott declared that Mrs Udney was introducing the Princess to certain kinds of literature which should not be brought to her notice. Mrs Udney retorted that Dr Nott was trying to influence the Princess in the hope that later he might obtain certain benefits.
These petty quarrels were certain, sooner or later, to break out into a conflict which could not be ignored and it happened one day when Dr Nott came in and found the Princess Charlotte and Mrs Udney examining some cartoons which Mrs Udney had acquired.
This love of what were known as ‘prints’ had made a bond between Charlotte and Mrs Udney. It was not that Charlotte liked the woman – she never would do that – but she did find her conversation with its sly innuendoes irresistible; nor could she help being very interested in the cartoons and papers which Mrs Udney was constantly showing her.
Mrs Udney had just come from Gillray’s in St James’s Street and was chatting with the Princess, telling her of her visit to this shop.
‘He used to be in Old Bond Street and now he is moved to St James’s, which is even better. Your Highness would like to see Gillray’s shop.’
Mrs Udney’s malicious smile played about her lips. Dare she take Charlotte there one day? It was a bit risky, for she could lose her position if discovered.
‘Old Gillray is above, working away at his cartoons. I’ve seen him once. Such a quiet man, Your Highness – grey eyes and grey hair, but there is a sort of liveliness about him. You would never guess he could do such clever … wicked work.’
‘He is undoubtedly clever,’ said Charlotte.
‘Yes, yes. Look at this one.’
It was a picture of the King – looking quite ridiculous and yet somehow so exactly like her grandfather that there was no mistaking him. He was seated at a bench making buttons. There were rows of them on the bench and beneath the picture was written ‘The Royal Button Maker’. There was another of the King wearing leggings and with straw in his hair. It was called ‘Farmer George’. There was one of the King and Queen – the Queen wearing an apron and frying sprats while the King toasted muffins. This was ridiculing the humble way they liked to live.
‘They have some very wicked ones,’ said Mrs Udney with a laugh. ‘Miss Humphrey serves below with Betty Marshall who can’t stop giggling. They know me well. I’m a good customer.’
‘I wonder my grandfather does not send him to prison.’
‘Oh, we’d have all London up in arms and marching on St James’s if he did. No one would be allowed to lay a finger on Gillray. London would see to that. He makes the people laugh too much … and they like to laugh. Miss Humphrey thinks he’s a genius, which is not surprising, considering …’
‘Considering what?’
Mrs Udney winked.
‘She’s his … m … mistress?’ asked Charlotte.
Mrs Udney nodded significantly. ‘Well, you’ve got to know how your future subjects live, haven’t you? Your Highness would be surprised. It’s very respectable, mind. They’re as good as married. Betty Marshall told me one day that he and Miss Humphrey did start out for St James’s Church to get married and before they got there he got an idea for a cartoon and that made him change his mind. So they went back and things went on just as they had been.’
Charlotte was vitally interested and wanted to hear more about James Gillray and Miss Humphrey.
There was a great talent in his work, and he was very prolific. According to Mrs Udney, he had made not only a name for himself but a fortune.
Mrs Udney had brought an old cartoon with her of Mrs Fitzherbert and the Prince with Mr Fox and Mr Pitt which had been done soon after the Prince’s secret marriage to Mrs Fitzherbert. Pitt and Fox were both dead now but Charlotte knew a great deal about them. A study of politics was essential to her education and no study of English politics could be complete without these two illustrious names.
The cartoon was called ‘Dido Forsaken’ and it showed Mrs Fitzherbert – a good deal younger than she was today – standing on a pile of logs on the shore. A boat was sailing away from them and in it were Pitt, Fox and the Prince of Wales. From the Prince’s mouth came a bubble in which were written the words: ‘I never saw her in my life,’ and from Fox’s: ‘No, damme, never in his life.’