Part 23 (1/2)

'He would never do such a thing,' she said flatly.

Elizabeth was silent. If the Princess thought that she did not know her son. It was just the idiotic senseless chivalrous idealistic manner in which George would act.

'He felt he owed marriage to the lady in view of their relations.h.i.+p, Your Highness. The lady is sick... and fears herself to be near death... she was in great mental torment because of this... relations.h.i.+p and the Prince believed that the only way to bring her peace of mind was to marry her.'

'He has told you this... ?'

'Yes, Your Highness.'

Oh, George, you fool... you madman! thought his mother. Not only do you do this dreadful thing but you confide in this woman... this unscrupulous creature who is a born schemer and intriguer, not above a little blackmail. George, you are mad... quite mad. What are we going to do?

'You had better tell me all you know.'

'Your Highness, I have nothing more to tell you. All His Highness has told me is that the marriage has taken place.'

'Has he told anyone else of this marriage?'

'I think very few people know, Your Highness. His brother Edward...'

'Edward!'

'Who acted as a witness, Your Highness.'

'Oh, my G.o.d!'

'Then, of course, there is Dr Wilmot. He did not mention any other.'

'Of course I cannot believe such a story.'

'But Your Highness will wish to find out whether there is any truth in it.'

'Such silly rumours should always be proved false.'

Elizabeth could almost feel sorry for the woman. She was really shaken; and the more she protested her disbelief the more plausible the story seemed to her.

'Your Highness at least believes in my good faith.'

'Your good faith?'

'That I would not be so false or so foolish as to tell you that His Highness himself confessed this to me if he had not done so?'

The Princess was silent.

'And may I ask Your Highness not to mention to His Highness that I have told you this?'

The insolence of this woman was past all bearing. But she must be careful. One must always be careful with blackmailers, and Elizabeth Chudleigh was an extremely subtle one; moreover, the information she had to hide was such which could make the kingdom rock.

'If His Highness knew that I had told you he would no longer confide in me. I would wish to be loyal to His Highness and I have pondered on this; I have come to the conclusion that I can best serve His Highness by making this known to Your Highness, for I know that you will bring the discretion to settling this affair which is necessary to His Highness and the nation.'

The Princess did not answer.

'Your Highness knows that I am entirely at your service,' went on Elizabeth. 'If in the action you will take you should need me to act for Your Highness in any way... if there is something which I may be able to discover...'

'Yes, yes,' said the Princess. 'Leave me now and send to me...'

'My Lord Bute?' asked Elizabeth with a hint of mischief in her eyes.

But the Princess Dowager was too shaken to notice it.

She threw herself into his arms. 'What are we to do? I cannot believe it... and yet I must. How could this have happened? Without telling us! He tells that... creature . . . and not us! Can you believe it?'

Lord Bute looked stunned. It certainly was disconcerting. The Prince, to whom he had believed himself to be so close, to have acted in this way and not told him!

But that was a small matter compared with the tremendous implication of all this.

'Oh, John, do you think my son is mad?'

'He is a fool,' replied Bute savagely.

'What are we going to do?'

'We must think about it... clearly... calmly.'

'Oh, my darling, what a comfort you are! I know you will understand how to deal with this matter. Should we send for him?'

'By no means. That woman is right. We will say nothing to him.'

'I could storm at him... whip him with my own hands.'

'He is too big for that, Augusta... and he is the Prince of Wales. I fear of late I have made him realize the importance of his position. Perhaps I have been wrong. I have tried to make him into a King... which he may well be at any moment... and as a result he thinks he can act as he wishes without consulting me... us. Who would have believed he could have done this thing? But first we must prove that he has.'

'He told her... Elizabeth Chudleigh... himself, John.'

'And to tell that woman! What next? One act of folly on top of another!'

'Could he have been joking, John?' asked the Princess, piteously hopeful.

'Have you ever known him to joke? He doesn't know what a joke is. But we are wasting time. We have got to think of how to act.'

'How can we act? Think of it, John! That woman... that merchant's daughter or whatever she is, is the Princess of Wales. She could tomorrow be Queen of England. Oh, what can we do?'

'We must stop it. That much I know.'

'How?'

'That's what we must discover.'