Sophia Charlotte thought so, and she must be right.
‘I daresay you have heard a garbled story,’ said Sophia Charlotte. ‘It would be better for you to know the truth. After all, though you are only eleven years old you are much older in wisdom, I know.’
Caroline glowed with happiness and taking Sophia Charlotte’s hand kissed it.
‘My dearest child,’ murmured Sophia Charlotte, deeply moved. ‘Well,’ she continued briskly. ‘George Lewis is a man… not unlike your late stepfather. There are many like him. It is a pattern of our times. He turned from his wife to other women. She found that intolerable and took a lover. The result – the mysterious disappearance of the lover and punishment for the poor Princess.’
‘It seems so unfair when he began it and she only did what he did.’
‘Life is unfair, my dear. More so for women than for men. He took his mistress as a natural right. Such is the custom. But when she took a lover she dangered the succession. You see what I mean. But of course you do. That is the answer.’
‘So she was more to blame.’
‘It is not for us to blame. She was foolish, poor soul; and folly often pays a higher price than greater sins.’
‘What should she have done when he took his mistresses? Should she have accepted them? My mother…’
‘Your mother was not a proud woman like this Princess. Your mother accepted the position… and you see here she is alive and living in peace while her husband and his mistress are dead.’
‘But that was by accident.’
‘Life is made up of accidents, luck if you like – good and bad – but often our own actions can decide the course our lives will take. If Sophia Dorothea had accepted her husband’s mistressses, if she had not quarrelled with him…’ Sophia Charlotteshrugged her shoulders. ‘Who knows what would have happened.’
‘So one should accept?’
‘One should try to discover what is the wisest way for one’s own advantage.’
‘I see,’ said Caroline.
Sophia Charlotte covered the girl’s hand with her own.
‘I believe you do,’ she said.
Even while the Brandenburgs were visiting her Eleanor had to take to her bed. The Dresden interlude had undermined her health and it could not be expected that – even though the threat to her life was removed – she would easily recover.
Sophia Charlotte visited her in her bedchamber and sent away her servants.
‘I have become deeply attached to Caroline,’ she said.
‘That pleases me more than anything else could.’
‘I know you are anxious for her future. Your son will doubtless be secure in Ansbach but it is little Caroline who worries you.’
Eleanor nodded. ‘I sometimes feel so weak, that I know I have not long to live.’
‘Nonsense, here you will recover. But…’
‘But?’ asked Eleanor eagerly.
‘If anything should happen to you, you need not fear for Caroline. You know I love the child as my own daughter. My husband and I would be her guardians and she would have a home with us.’
‘Oh… how can I thank you!’
‘You shouldn’t. I love your daughter. It would give me the utmost pleasure to have her with me, to educate her, to launch her in life. And… I don’t forget, Eleanor, that you met John George in Berlin… that we persuaded you to the match.’
‘It is all over now…’
‘It must have been… a nightmare.’
Eleanor stretched out a thin veined hand. ‘It is over and if you will make yourselves Caroline’s guardians I shall die contented.’
‘Then it is done.’
‘And the Elector?’
‘He is with me in this.’
Eleanor lay back on her pillows. Now, she thought, I can die in peace.
Eleanor lingered for two years in peaceful retirement at Pretsch; and on her death her eleven-year-old son went to Ansbach to live with his stepbrother, the Margrave, and thirteen-year-old Caroline, to her joy, was sent to Berlin to live at the court of Sophia Charlotte and her husband.
Suitors and tragedy for Caroline
THERE
‘I daresay you have heard a garbled story,’ said Sophia Charlotte. ‘It would be better for you to know the truth. After all, though you are only eleven years old you are much older in wisdom, I know.’
Caroline glowed with happiness and taking Sophia Charlotte’s hand kissed it.
‘My dearest child,’ murmured Sophia Charlotte, deeply moved. ‘Well,’ she continued briskly. ‘George Lewis is a man… not unlike your late stepfather. There are many like him. It is a pattern of our times. He turned from his wife to other women. She found that intolerable and took a lover. The result – the mysterious disappearance of the lover and punishment for the poor Princess.’
‘It seems so unfair when he began it and she only did what he did.’
‘Life is unfair, my dear. More so for women than for men. He took his mistress as a natural right. Such is the custom. But when she took a lover she dangered the succession. You see what I mean. But of course you do. That is the answer.’
‘So she was more to blame.’
‘It is not for us to blame. She was foolish, poor soul; and folly often pays a higher price than greater sins.’
‘What should she have done when he took his mistresses? Should she have accepted them? My mother…’
‘Your mother was not a proud woman like this Princess. Your mother accepted the position… and you see here she is alive and living in peace while her husband and his mistress are dead.’
‘But that was by accident.’
‘Life is made up of accidents, luck if you like – good and bad – but often our own actions can decide the course our lives will take. If Sophia Dorothea had accepted her husband’s mistressses, if she had not quarrelled with him…’ Sophia Charlotteshrugged her shoulders. ‘Who knows what would have happened.’
‘So one should accept?’
‘One should try to discover what is the wisest way for one’s own advantage.’
‘I see,’ said Caroline.
Sophia Charlotte covered the girl’s hand with her own.
‘I believe you do,’ she said.
Even while the Brandenburgs were visiting her Eleanor had to take to her bed. The Dresden interlude had undermined her health and it could not be expected that – even though the threat to her life was removed – she would easily recover.
Sophia Charlotte visited her in her bedchamber and sent away her servants.
‘I have become deeply attached to Caroline,’ she said.
‘That pleases me more than anything else could.’
‘I know you are anxious for her future. Your son will doubtless be secure in Ansbach but it is little Caroline who worries you.’
Eleanor nodded. ‘I sometimes feel so weak, that I know I have not long to live.’
‘Nonsense, here you will recover. But…’
‘But?’ asked Eleanor eagerly.
‘If anything should happen to you, you need not fear for Caroline. You know I love the child as my own daughter. My husband and I would be her guardians and she would have a home with us.’
‘Oh… how can I thank you!’
‘You shouldn’t. I love your daughter. It would give me the utmost pleasure to have her with me, to educate her, to launch her in life. And… I don’t forget, Eleanor, that you met John George in Berlin… that we persuaded you to the match.’
‘It is all over now…’
‘It must have been… a nightmare.’
Eleanor stretched out a thin veined hand. ‘It is over and if you will make yourselves Caroline’s guardians I shall die contented.’
‘Then it is done.’
‘And the Elector?’
‘He is with me in this.’
Eleanor lay back on her pillows. Now, she thought, I can die in peace.
Eleanor lingered for two years in peaceful retirement at Pretsch; and on her death her eleven-year-old son went to Ansbach to live with his stepbrother, the Margrave, and thirteen-year-old Caroline, to her joy, was sent to Berlin to live at the court of Sophia Charlotte and her husband.
Suitors and tragedy for Caroline
THERE
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