The Princess of Celle: (Georgian Series) by Jean Plaidy Read Free Book Online Page A

taking his brother’s place, anxious to make little George Lewis’s inheritance a worthy one.
    He had recently succeeded to the Bishopric of Osnabrück, that See which was founded by Charlemagne. It was a strange selection, but the Treaty of Westphalia had decreed that the Prince Bishops of Osnabrück should be alternately Roman Catholic and Lutheran; and that the Lutheran Bishop should be chosen by the chapter from the house of Brunswick-Lüneberg. Thus was Ernest Augustus selected, and as it was an office bringing with it power as well as riches he had been delighted to accept. He had immediately moved his family to the Castle of Iburg and decided to make this his headquarters.
    He was enjoying life. I should have made him pay me for what was done, mused George William. He made no sacrifice.
    They were growing apart. Ernest Augustus was so much the married man, George William the confirmed bachelor. The only quality they shared was their deep sensuality, for although Ernest Augustus was married he was by no means a faithful husband. He did his duty by Sophia, giving her every opportunity to bear children, but it was not to be expected that one woman could satisfy him. He was determined to live his own life and made it clear that while every respect was paid to Sophia by his subjects, while she might rule the household as chatelaine, he must be allowed to go his way. Sophia understood this; she never complained at the mistresses he took; she had control of the children and the household, and was queen in her domain. Very well, she would not ask for the impossible.
    So Ernest Augustus had done well. He even managed to travel a little – although not too far, nor did he stay away too long. He could see that George William was doing himself no good by his constant absences. He liked hunting, eating, drinking and sleeping with women. While he could get these and beget a family he was content.
    Not so George William. Restlessly he flitted about the Continent until eventually he came to Breda, which had become known as the home of exiles, for in this pleasant town they congregated and lived recklessly and hopefully, as exiles will.
    There was a royal set in Breda – exiled Princes and Princesses, Kings and Queens and the nobility who had reasons for wanting to leave their native countries, settled there. Some were rich; many were poor; and those who might not be able to compete with the rich hostesses of the Court of Restored Royalty in England or that glittering opulence of Versailles, set up house in Breda and contented themselves with offering hospitality to persons who, at the moment, were in the shadows but full of hope of returning to power, in which case they might remember the friends of their needy days.
    Sophia’s mother, the ex-Queen of Bohemia, had stayed at Breda; so had Charles Prince of Wales who had now returned to England where, he had said, he was greeted so warmly thatit must have been his own fault that he had stayed away so long.
    Through the streets the carriages of the once-great or near-great rattled; ladies dressed in the latest French fashions acknowledged the greetings of gallant gentlemen as their carriages passed along. Every day seemed to be the occasion for some brilliant ball or masquerade. The people of Breda were proud of their foreign population which had brought such prosperity to the town.
    George William was welcomed. He was no exile but came purely for pleasure; his servants found a worthy lodging for him and in the first few days he received a message from the Princesse de Tarente inviting him to a ball.
    George William was delighted. Breda soothed him; here was grace and charm which might have come straight from Versailles. It was different from Venice. The climate was not so clement; the romantic canals and the delight of a masque which ended in St. Mark’s Square was missing; but there was an excitement about Breda which Venice lacked; and he felt his spirits rising. As his servants