Queen in Waiting: (Georgian Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

mother. She would never forget that it was her mother who had first put her in the Elector’s way and who, once the liaison had started, conducted it so cleverly from the shadows that she had made what might have been a fleeting affair into what it was at this time.
    The extremely ambitious Madam von Röohlitz was the widow of a Colonel of the Guards; not a position in which she could have had high social ambitions if she had not possessed an outstandingly beautiful daughter. She had been the first to appreciate Magdalen’s charms and assess their value. She had always known that Magdalen’s brains did not match her beauty; but since she had a very clever mother this was not aninsurmountable difficulty – in fact, it was proving an asset. Magdalen could make full use of her erotic genius while her mother planned calmly behind the scenes.
    Magdalen had little to complain of so far. She was, in fact, astonished how easily she could please her lover when all she had to do was satisfy his sexual desires, and as hers were as eager for fulfilment as his, that was no hardship. Mother arranged all the tiresome details and was very happy to do so. That seemed a pleasant enough arrangement to Magdalen; and she was surprised to discover that Mother was not pleased.
    She had come to her daughter’s apartment because it was time they had a little talk.
    ‘You need not frown, daughter. If you will do exactly as I say it will be easy enough.’
    Magdalen nodded and stretched her limbs luxuriously.
    What a magnificent creature she is! thought her mother. It would be churlish to reproach her for not being able to think , when she is so expert in other matters.
    ‘That man would do a great deal for you.’
    ‘He always says so.’
    ‘Talk is one thing, actions another.’
    Magdalen yawned.
    ‘You must listen to me because this is important. You are a Countess now, my dear; you are very rich, and that is as it should be. I’m delighted. But things could be so much better.’
    ‘Could they?’ asked Magdalen.
    ‘Of course. What happens when important visitors arrive? Who has to receive them? You or her? Then she is brought forward, isn’t she? She is after all the Electress of Saxony and his legal wife.’
    ‘He’s never with her.’
    ‘That is not my point, Magdalen. She is received. She is accepted. I wish that for you.’
    ‘Well, she’s his wife.’
    ‘You should tell him how humiliated you feel.’
    Magdalen raised her eyebrows. ‘How humiliated do I feel?’
    ‘You, whom he swears he loves as he can never love another woman are snubbed, covertly insulted by visitors from other courts.’
    ‘But I’m not, Mother.’
    ‘They say, “Oh she’s only his mistress.” And they pay court to Madam Electress.’
    ‘Oh no, Mother…’
    ‘Listen to me. You could become Electress.’
    ‘How?’
    ‘By insisting that he marry you, of course.’
    ‘He’s married already.’
    ‘You are determined to see the obstacles.’
    Magdalen looked puzzled. ‘Well, she is his wife, isn’t she? They were married in Leipzig.’
    ‘Oh yes, their dear friends the Brandenburgs saw to that.’
    ‘Because you had been too busy with your dear friends the Austrians.’
    ‘Because you, my dear, were not subtle enough. I had to find money from somewhere and you betrayed the fact that we had friends in Austria who had been kind to us. But never mind. That’s all behind us. Let’s think of the future. How would you like to be the Electress of Saxony?’
    ‘I shouldn’t mind it. I shouldn’t mind it at all.’
    Madam von Röohlitz gave her daughter a playful slap.
    ‘Well, listen to me. I have an idea. Pay close attention.’
    ‘Yes, Mother.’
    Caroline was in her mother’s bedchamber reading aloud to Eleanor who lay on her bed, her nervous fingers pulling at the coverlet; Caroline knew that she was not listening. Yet if she stopped she would realize it and ask her gently to go on.
    It seemed useless and ineffectual; for Caroline was