The Princess of Celle: (Georgian Series) Read Online Free Page B

not changed. He had been such a charming boy – as her cousin Charles undoubtedly was; and George William, she believed, although he had had countless mistresses, was not quite so profligate as Charles. His mistresses would not be important though, as long as he spent enough time in her bed to enable her to provide the necessary heirs – and, of course, accorded to her the dignity of her rank.
    A servant came to tell her that her brother the Elector commanded that she join him in his apartments. She knew this meant she was to be presented to her future husband.
    One last look at her reflection. If I were not pitted with the pox, she thought, I should be tolerably handsome.
    She was announced, and as she came into the apartment saw her brother with George William. George William was one of the handsomest men she had ever seen.
    As he bowed to her, she lifted her eyes to him, and felt an excitement creeping over her. This was indeed the next best thing to marriage into England.
    George William took her hand.
    ‘I find it impossible to convey my pleasure in this meeting.’
    He was suave, elegant, gallant.
    His brother, standing a few paces behind him, was quite a pleasant young man but eclipsed by the other’s superior attractions.
    George William gave no sign of the deep depression which he was experiencing.
    He had decided in that moment that marriage was even more repugnant than he had imagined – and he certainly did not want Princess Sophia for his bride.
    There was little finesse about the Elector. He knew why the brothers were in Heidelberg and so did everyone else, so why make any pretence about it? The house of Brunswick-Lüneberg wanted a wife for its Duke, and there was no doubt that he wanted a husband for Sophia. He was tired of keeping his sister; her tongue was a little too sharp for his liking, he resented her cost to his household: and he would rejoice to see her the concern of someone else.
    So he arranged that the young people should have a private interview on the very day of the arrival of the Duke and his brother.
    Duke William, accepting the unpleasant duty before him, plunged in without any preamble, seating himself beside Sophia and taking her hand. His voice was cool as he said: ‘You know for what purpose I am here?’
    There was nothing of the coquette about Sophia.
    ‘I have been told,’ she replied.
    ‘Then I trust you are not displeased by the arrangements which our families have made for us. I do assure you that if this matter is distasteful to you …’
    ‘It is not distasteful to me,’ she answered sharply.
    He was surprised, and she turned to him laughing. ‘I am not going to play the part of coy maiden. Have no fear of that. I am nearing thirty. Time is running out. If I am going to give my husband heirs I should delay no longer.’
    ‘I had thought …’
    ‘That I was in my teens? Now come, my lord Duke, you thought nothing of the sort. You knew my age as well as I knew yours. Why, as soon as a match was mooted between us, I’ll warrant you discovered all it was advisable for you to know about me … as I did about you.’
    He laughed. She had a ready tongue.
    ‘Well,’ he said, ‘there is little for me to say but: Will you marry me?’
    ‘And nothing for me to answer but: I will.’
    ‘So the matter is settled then?’
    ‘To your satisfaction, I hope.’
    ‘It is the successful conclusion to my mission. I had not thought to complete it so soon.’
    ‘Then, my lord Duke, have you nothing more to say to me?’
    He took her hand and kissed it. His kiss was cold; and remembering all the stories she had heard of him she knew how different it might have been.
    He was telling her that it was a marriage of convenience and she would not be expected to ask for more. This was surely not the way he behaved with his Venetian mistress.
    And why? Because he felt no passion for pock-pitted Sophia, because he was proposing marriage only because his family insisted that he