"It is not easy to find a Protestant prince.”

"That has always been the trouble. But we must marry her to someone. She needs marriage I am sure and she is becoming a little tiresome here at Court.”

"Poor Augusta!" said George. "Certainly we must do what we can for her.”

The Princess Dowager sighed. "She feels it deeply being the eldest and not born a boy. I shall never forget the night she was born and how we hurried from Hampton to St. James's because your father hoped she would be a boy and it was imperative that the heir to the throne be born there. There was nothing ready for us and the beds were unaired. Poor Augusta had to be wrapped in a tablecloth.”

Both Lord Bute and the King had heard this story many times before, but they listened sympathetically.

"And when the Queen ... your grandmother, George, came to see her she said she was a poor little mite to be born into a sad world. And so it seems. Poor Augusta! She has never been reconciled to being born a girl. So we must find a husband for her, George.”

"We will do our best.”

"And soon, George. There should not be a long delay. Augusta can no longer be called very young.”

"We will consider the matter as urgent," said George. He looked to Bute and something of the old relationship was between them.

"I found Grenville arrogant," he said. "And Pitt... well, Pitt is difficult too. I took your advice and summoned him. I felt it was necessary now that Egremont has died. But Pitt will return on his own terms. He wants to restore the Whigs. If Pitt would come as head of the Government all well and good. But now he will bring back the Whigs. I said to him: "Mr. Pitt, my honour is concerned and I must support it." So Grenville continues in office and plagues me and tires me and bores me.”

"Ah, what times we live in," sighed Bute; but he had no consolation to offer.

It was very different, thought George, from the old days. But he must devote himself to arranging a marriage for his elder sister. Poor Augusta. Naturally she wanted to marry and have children before it was too late. He understood that. He had his two at Richmond. How he wished he could escape to them and play with them and enjoy the life of a country squire. But duty must come first. In a few days he was negotiating a marriage between his sister Augusta and Charles, Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbiittel.

If George was displeased with George Grenville, so was Grenville with George. For one thing Grenville knew that the King had approached Pitt and it was only because Pitt's terms were impossible that Grenville was invited to stay in office. Having learned that Pitt had had an interview with the King, Grenville went on to discover that this had been brought about through the work of Bute; and that it was Bute in the first place who had suggested Pitt to be approached.

Grenville in a rage went to see the King. As soon as George received him he began one of his lectures which the King found so tiresome, and as George yawned and watched the clock Grenville made no attempt to cut it short. At length the King, exasperated beyond endurance, said that he had other matters to which he must, attend. Grenville replied that he would come to the point and tell His Majesty of his disquiet that Lord Bute, who had resigned from the Government at the people's desire, should still hold so much influence with His Majesty that he could suggest the recall of Mr. Pitt, and that that recall would have been brought about but for Mr. Pitt's intransigence.

The King was trying to catch at the gist of this harangue when Grenville said: "Sire, I can only continue in office if I can be assured that Lord Bute does not enjoy secret conferences with Your Majesty.”

"I will give you that assurance," replied the King. "But it is true that I invited Mr. Pitt to come and see me at Lord Bute's suggestion. It shall not happen again.”

"I sincerely hope it will not," said the Minister grimly, knowing that if he resigned on account of Bute and the people knew, and he would make sure that they did, the King's unpopularity would increase and so would the lampoons and manifestations of the City's hatred against Bute.

"And Your Majesty, if I am to continue in office I must insist that Lord Bute leaves London.”

"Leaves London!”

"Your Majesty it is a condition of my service. If Your Majesty feels that it is impossible to banish Lord Bute then I shall be compelled to deliver to you my seals of office.”

George was angry, but he could see that he was at the Minister's mercy. Would any minister have dared to speak to his grandfather like that? There had been lampoons about George II and it was said that he was ruled by his wife and Sir Robert Walpole which doubtless had been true, but no one would have dared put such conditions to him as Grenville had just done to George III. Of course he was young, a novice at the art of ruling; and he was weary and tired and his head ached and he felt far from well. But he knew that he dared not lose Grenville at this time, so Bute would have to leave London.

George muttered: "I will ask Lord Bute to leave us for a while.”

"And Your Majesty, it could not be permitted that one of Lord Bute's friends take over his office of Keeper of the Privy Purse.”

"Good God," cried George, humiliated into a display of anger, "Mr. Grenville, am I to be suspected after all I have done?”

Grenville murmured: "It is imperative to Your Majesty's Ministers and to the City of London that Lord Bute is not suspected of being Your Majesty's chief adviser.”

The King turned away and when his minister had left, sent for Lord Bute to tell him that he must leave. He was surprised at Bute's meek acceptance of dismissal, though he himself would have given a good deal to escape from his bickering ministers. But he was not particularly sorry either.

When he thought of the old days when he had doted on this man, when he had been terrified of mounting the throne without him beside him, he was astonished that everything could have changed in a comparatively short time.

"It will only be a temporary absence," he murmured. "But I had no alternative but to agree to it.”

Bute nodded.

"You will tell my mother?”

Bute answered that he would.

After he had gone the King sat thinking of them, Bute and his mother. In truth their relationship, of which the people in the streets had made him crudely familiar, shocked him. This was at the root of his changed feelings towards this man who had once been his dearest friend.

And yet, he thought, I went through a form of marriage with Hannah. And if that were a true marriage and if Hannah still lives then I am not married to Charlotte. We are living in sin as my mother is with Lord Bute.

No. it's not true, he told himself. I must shut that thought right out of my mind. For what with Mr.

Pitt and Mr. Grenville, Mr. Wilkes and the rest I should go mad if I dwelt on that too. He would not think of it. Bute would go away for a while and his mother must need to put up with his absence. After all, hadn't he been forced to give up Sarah completely? So why should his mother complain at giving up Bute for a few weeks? They must forget their own troubles and set about arranging Augusta's marriage.

The Princess Augusta was very excited about her coming wedding. She had been presented with a picture of her future husband and was not displeased with it. Caroline Matilda was almost as excited.

"One wedding begets another," she said. "It will be my turn next. Oh, Augusta, just imagine I You'll go right away from us all to a strange land. I wonder what Brunswick's like. I suppose it's not far from Mecklenburg. How odd! You go there and Charlotte comes here.”

"Nothing odd about it," said Augusta sharply. "It's just the nature of things.”

"Oh, the nature of things!" cried Caroline Matilda, dancing round the apartment, her yellow hair streaming out behind her. "And the nature of things is that I'll be the next one. When do you think there'll be a wedding for me, Augusta?”

"Not for years. You're only a child.”

"Thirteen. Charlotte was only seventeen. And as I told you, weddings come together. I'm longing to see Charles. I wonder if he's like his picture. Are you shivering with apprehension?”

"When you reach my age, child, you don't shiver with apprehension, you only sigh with relief.”

Caroline Matilda giggled. "I hope he's a little more handsome than poor Charlotte.”

"Hush! You are speaking of the Queen.”

"Perhaps all Germans are plain.”

"What about us? Are we not mostly German?”

"That was Grandfather. We're all English." Caroline Matilda surveyed her face thoughtfully in a mirror. "In fact," she went on complacently, "I think I am rather good looking.”

Augusta laughed derisively and Caroline Matilda continued to giggle. Since Augusta knew she was to have a husband she had become much pleasanter to her young sister.

And in January Prince Charles Frederick of Brunswick arrived in England. George took an immediate dislike to his prospective brother-in-law, and so did the Prince to him. Charles Frederick was twenty-nine and high spirited; on the way over he had been talking with the utmost indiscretion about English politics; he had stated that the King was inexperienced and had been led by the nose by Lord Bute, before that gentleman had been sent packing, while refusing the services of one of the greatest politicians alive, by whom he meant William Pitt. When this conversation was reported to the King and his ministers it did not endear them to the visitor.

As for the Princess Dowager, she declared that she had never liked his family. She had accepted him as her daughter's husband, she told Lord Bute, when he paid his secret visits to her - for it was not to be expected that they would give those up - but the old Duchess of Wolfenbiittel was the most disagreeable woman she had ever known, and everyone was aware that she had refused her daughter for George, although his grandfather had tried to foist the girl on to him.

If it was not for the fact that Augusta must have a husband she would never have agreed to the match. But Augusta really was a trying creature; her tongue was so sharp and she was interesting herself too deeply in politics. She was a supporter of Pitt's and with her brother, the Duke of York, was actually taking sides with the Opposition and those who were against the policy of the Court.

Augusta was a real meddler. Well, let her meddle in Brunswick. The Princess Dowager went to see her son to talk of the coming ceremonials.

"I don't see why we should go to any length to impress Brunswick," said Augusta.

"Nor I," agreed George. "The fellow is an oaf. He would not know the difference between a Court ceremony or a country-house ball. So why go to the expense?”

"It would be a great expense. And don't forget we have already had to pay the fellow handsomely to take her.”

"Eighty thousand pounds, an annuity of 5000 pounds a year on Ireland and 3000 pounds a year on Hanover. It's being an expensive matter getting rid of Augusta. Now for heaven's sake, do not let us add to the expense.”

"We won't; I am ordering that the servants should not have new livery.”

George was looking better than he had for some months; he had always enjoyed working out details of household expenditure.

"And," he went on, "I have decided that he shall be lodged at Somerset House and that there will be no need to station guards there.”

Augusta nodded, approving, but thinking at the same time: "In the old days he would have consulted one of us first.”

"Doubtless he will be unaware," said the Princess Dowager, 'that he is not being treated with the respect one would naturally give to a gentleman in his position. I believe manners are very crude in Brunswick.”

This may have been so, but the Prince was immediately aware of the coldness of his reception and was furious. He was by no means meek and had no intention of hiding his displeasure. He had distinguished himself on the battlefield with the armies of Frederick the Great and, since he had come to England to take an ageing princess off their hands, he had expected better treatment.

The only one at the English Court who was pleased with him seemed to be his bride and she would have been pleased with any bridegroom. At least he was not deformed and she pretended not to notice his crudities. The ladies and gentlemen of the Court, taking their cue from the King, all showed their dislike of the bridegroom to such an extent that it would seem they were trying to influence the Princess Augusta against him.