"From that point Struensee's rise to power was meteoric. You must remember that here the King is absolute, with no check of any kind upon his authority. He has but to sign a paper to alter the law, increase taxation, double or disband his army, and cause any of his subjects either to receive the highest honour, or to be tortured and put to death without trial. For Struensee, providing he kept the King amused with bawdy books and semi-drugged, it was easy to get the royal signature to any measure he desired. In the space of a few months he had banished all the old ministers and become himself the absolute ruler of Denmark."
"And the Queen's lover," added Roger.
"Yes. Although in fairness it must be said that she went more than halfway to meet him. But, with such a husband, who can blame her? Christian's excesses on his tour had completed what those of his youth had began, and rendered him practically impotent; in addition he had given the unfortunate young woman a clap. The Herr Doktorcured her of it and took her husband's place. Their liaison might have continued for years, bringing prolonged happiness to them both, had not Struensee's political reforms earned him many enemies, and the open flaunting of the fact that they were living together provided the Queen Dowager with a lever for their undoing."
"What type of political reforms did he initiate?"
"Many of them were excellent. He abolished torture in the prisons, gave freedom to the press, and ordained that whenever it was sought to inflict the penalties on a woman for loose living, her seducer must be named in court and share her punishment if she was found guilty. You can imagine how this last aroused against him the hatred of the many mealy-mouthed hypocrites among the Calvinist burghers and clergy. 'Twas no longer safe for them to force their poor little serving-wenches in a corner, then later, when they were found to be with child, turn them on to the streets while lifting their own hands to Heaven in pious horror.
"But the measure which brought him the greatest degree of unpopularity was the freeing of the serfs from their bondage. Up to Struensee's time the peasants were the property of the nobles on whose estates they were born, and bound by law to remain on those estates as vassals from birth to death. He gave them their freedom, but the result proved almost disastrous for Denmark. These wretched, uncouth, brutalised creatures left the land and swarmed into the towns by the thousand. The fields remained uncultivated, which led to a severe famine, and the towns became subject to riots and rapine at the hands of starving mobs."
"Yet his reforms seem to have been in keeping with the spirit of the age."
"They were. His mistake was in pushing them through too quickly, and without due preparation or thought for their possible consequences. In the meantime Caroline Matilda had taken the bit between her teeth. She was still only twenty-two and with all the headstrong folly of youth gloried in her adultery. She encouraged the ladies of her court to follow her example in taking a lover, and turned the Palace into a haunt of Bacchanalian revelry. Still worse, as far as her public reputation was concerned, she took to painting her face, and when she went out hunting, wore leather small-clothes and rode astride like a man."
"I see no great wickedness in the last."
Elliot laughed. "If you think of Denmark as England in Oliver Cromwell's time you would, my friend. The townsfolk knew little of what went on inside the Palace, but when they saw her in such guise, they straightway were filled with righteous indignation, and abjured her as the Great Whore of Babylon. Unfortunately too, the chase was her passion; and for each of her three hunts, stag, hare and hawk, she made her courtiers wear a different uniform; light blue and silver for the first, green and bronze for the second, and crimson and gold for the third. Imagine the effect of parading such gay extravagance four or five days a week before the sober Danish burghers. Christian squandered a quarter of a million pounds on drink and women during his year abroad, but his subjects remained unaware of that; whereas they could see Matilda enjoying herself, and hated her for it."
"What of the King, though? Since he is not entirely mad, did he make no protest at having both his wife and his Kingdom taken from him?"
"They let him continue to attend all the Court entertainments and used to take him out to hunt with them, but no one was allowed to speak to him without permission; and Struensee employed a Count Brandt to sleep in the King's anti-chamber and act as his keeper. At least, I should have said the anti-chamber of Struensee's old room, for he had taken over the King's apartments for himself and put Christian into his on the excuse of preventing him from having access to Matilda, so that she should not be subject to his fits of violence. That was Struensee's crowning folly; since when the young Queen gave birth to a daughter in the summer of '71 everybody knew that he must be the child's father."
"Did the end come swiftly, then?"
"Nay, not for another six months. In secret Juliana Maria had been gathering all Struensee's most bitter enemies about her, and she selected Count Rantzau to take the lead in a conspiracy, the theoretical object of which was to restore the King's liberty. Actually, of course, seeing that Struensee had been able to rule through him she meant to keep him captive and replace the Doctor by her son, Frederick, in the role of Regent. On the 16th of January '72 there was a court ball. Brandt was lured away from his post to spend the night with his mistress. In his- absence Count Rantzau succeeded in penetrating to Christian's chamber and persuading him to sign an order for the arrest of Struensee and the Queen. In the early hours of the morning both were apprehended. Struensee was taken to the town-citadel and Matilda was sent to the castle of Cronenburg. They never saw one another again."
Roger sighed. "Despite their guilt I cannot but feel sorry for them."
"I have more sympathy for her than him," Elliot rejoined slowly. "She behaved with splendid courage throughout and defied her enemies to the end, whereas he played the part of a poltroon. 'Tis true that they put him to the rack, but even so, his confession gave many salacious details of his intercourse with the Queen such as could not have been invented by his examiners, and showed by its tone that he had done his utmost to obtain leniency for himself by sacrificing her. Of course, it availed him nothing and he was executed with Count Brandt, who made a courageous end, whereas Struensee had to be dragged to the block."
"And the Queen?"
"She was divorced, and Juliana exerted all the influence she could command to have her executed for treason; but my predecessor here, Colonel Sir Robert Murray Keith, threatened the Danes that Britain would go to war if she were harmed, and His Majesty rewarded his firmness by conferring on him the red ribbon of the Bath. Three English men-of-war were dispatched to convey her to King George's Hanoverian dominions, and she lived in retirement in the castle of Zell there until her death three years later."
"So the Queen Dowager triumphed in the end?"
Elliot smiled. "For twelve years she realised her ambitions. At the time of Matilda's divorce the Crown Prince was barely four years of age. During his minority Juliana Maria ruled through her loutish son, with her creature Guldberg as Prime Minister; but a just fate has dispossessed her of power in the end. The little Crown Prince Frederick grew up to loathe his uncle and step-grandmother, and he developed into a boy of great promise and resolution. While still quite young he entered into a secret correspondence with the exiled Count Bernstorff and between them they plotted a coup d'etat.Juliana Maria delayed his confirmation as long as possible, but when it had taken place he could no longer be denied a seat in the Privy Council. On his first appearance there, although only fifteen, he forced his imbecile father to sign a document empowering him to act as Regent, and to the effect that the King's signature should no longer be valid unless countersigned by himself. His uncle and Guldberg were completely taken by surprise and found their power snatched from them before they could do a thing to prevent it."
Roger smiled. "What an amazing feat, for a boy of that age to have carried through a bloodless revolution."
"It was indeed; but 'twas touch and go for a few days.
I had been en postehere for two years then. I immediately offered the young Prince my support, and as there were several English ships in the harbour at the time nothing would have pleased me better than to lead their crews into action against the supporters of the Queen Dowager. But 'twas unnecessary. Juliana Maria and her son were so stunned that they lost all power of initiative. Count Bernstorff was recalled and the Crown Prince became King in all but name. That was four years ago this month, and poor Caroline Matilda's son shows every sign of continuing to be a wise and talented ruler."
" 'Tis a fascinating story," Roger declared. "And I shall look forward now with even greater interest to seeing some of the actors in it."
For the rest of the evening they talked of other matters, and when Roger left it was arranged that Hugh Elliot should call for him at his inn on Tuesday evening, to take him to the Prime Minister's soiree.
At the soireeeverything went according to plan. Monsieur le Chevalier de Breucwas duly presented to Monsieur le Baron la Houze, a charming and polished diplomat. They talked of Paris at some length and Roger said that he had spent a year there after completing his education at Strasbourg. He was able to speak with truth of his friendship with the Abbé de Talleyrand-Perigord, the Vicomte de la Tour d'Auvergne, and the Comte de Choiseul-Goumer, whom he knew to be still the French Ambassador at Constantinople, and he inferred that he had more than an acquaintance with the Baron de Breteuil, the Due de Polignac, and other members of Queen Marie Antoinette's intimate circle. La Houze was as favourably impressed by Roger's delightful manners as by his admirable connections, and within ten minutes of their having met, offered to present him at the Saturday evening drawing-room.
Four evenings later Roger accompanied his new friend to the Christiansborg Palace. It seemed even vaster inside than out, and the few score of courtiers and ladies present appeared almost lost in the huge reception-hall; but several great wood-fires gave the place a cheerful atmosphere, and the etiquette of the small court was not so rigidly formal as to prevent the Danes from obviously taking pleasure in the function.
The French Minister duly presented Roger to the half-mad King, who was now thirty-eight years of age but looked considerably older. He was a puny, sly-eyed creature and much embarrassed Roger by digging him in the ribs and asking him several extremely indecent personal questions; but Count Bernstorff drew His Majesty's attention away from the visitor and the King spent most of the remainder of the evening sitting on the floor playing with his dog.
His son, the young Crown Prince, proved a most pleasing contrast and held Roger for some twenty minutes in intelligent conversation. He was then presented to the sinister Queen Dowager, her awkward, horse-faced son, and several other notabilities. Hugh Elliot was there and introduced him to the Count and Countess Reventlow, who invited him to accompany the British Minister to their house next day; and a number of other people he met asked him to call upon them.
Having achieved his first objective of establishing himself as a young French nobleman, travelling for pleasure through the northern capitals, he returned to his inn highly satisfied. Then the following morning he once more rode through the sabbath quiet of the city streets to the wooded parks of Christiansholm, and spent some very pleasant hours at the Reventlow mansion, as one of a charming family circle of about a dozen people.
When the party broke up it was still light, as the long evenings of the northern summer were already beginning; and Elliot suggested that Roger should ride back with him as far as the Legation. After going at an easy canter through the park, on the grass of which the big trees were now casting fantastically elongated shadows, the diplomat reined his horse in to a walk, and as Roger followed suit, said to him:
"I took this opportunity for a word with you, because it is unlikely that my interest in a young Frenchman would normally lead me to entertain him privately more than once; and now that you are known to la Houze I shall not invite you again, for fear of arousing his suspicions that you are not, after all, quite what you seem. Tell me, now, is there any further way in which I can be of service to you, or do you feel that you have got what you can from Denmark?"
"I could doubtless learn many things of interest from a prolonged stay, Sir, but little of moment by remaining for a fortnight," Roger replied. "So I feel that I ought to go on my way as soon as I can decently do so. Numerous persons of the court were kind enough last night to ask me to call upon them, and la Houze has bidden me to sup with him on Wednesday. I therefore plan to busy myself socially these next few days, and, in the meantime, see if I can find a ship which will carry me to Sweden towards the end of the week."
"That should not be difficult, as there is a large and constant traffic between Copenhagen and Stockholm."
Roger acknowledged the information with a nod, and went on. "As to your other question; although I am now the domestic scene I still know next to nothing of Denmark's foreign policy, and I'd be still more your debtor if you would give me a few pointers on that."
"Most willingly," Elliot smiled. "Denmark is still a maritime power of some consequence, but in other respects she is a poor country and seeks to keep herself free of entanglements. For many years her policy was governed by her anxieties over the Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein; since, as you may know, the Czarina's late husband, Peter III, was a Holstein-Gottorp and inherited the Duchies from his father. Peter's claim to them was undoubtedly legal, and the idea of having a Russian army established on their border was, not unnaturally, viewed with the gravest apprehension by the Danes. However, in '73 they succeeded in persuading Catherine to forego her claim to the Duchies in exchange for those of Oldenberg and Delmenhorst."
"That would appear to have been but a poor swop as far as the Russians are concerned," Roger commented.
" Twas indeed. And for that reason I have always suspected that there was something fishy about the deal—some secret clause in the treaty that has never been disclosed."
" 'Tis certainly unlike all one hears of the Empress to give much for little."
Elliot nodded. "Mayhap the real price was that Denmark should remain neutral in the event of Russia going to war with Sweden. Some years ago Denmark feared that Gustavus III harboured designs against her Norwegian territories, so it seems that her interest lies in a pact with Sweden which would secure them from his aggression. Yet now that more recently he has endeavoured to win Denmark to him his efforts have proved unsuccessful. Last year, soon after the outbreak of the Russian war against the Turks, King Gustavus came here on a visit to his nephew, the Prince Regent, and did his utmost to persuade the Danes to enter into an alliance with him against Russia; but although the Prince and Count Bernstorff showed him much politeness, they firmly rejected all his overtures."
" That admittedly gives grounds for supposing that they are already bound to neutrality, as you suggest. If so, there can be little prospect of gaining their support for the Triple Alliance."
"None, I fear. Our only hope of counteracting Catherine's designs in the north lies in Gustavus. He is an able and forceful monarch, with a strong ambition to revive Sweden's ancient glories. 'Tis secretly reported that he is already receiving subsidies from the Turk and plans a campaign against Russia this summer. 'Twas that which made me feel that you would do well to make an early remove to the Swedish capital."
"I hope to obtain a letter of introduction from Baron la Houze to the French Minister in Stockholm," Roger remarked. "But it might be helpful, Sir, if you would also be good enough to furnish me with one for the British representative."
The diplomat laughed a shade bitterly. "Had we one I would willingly do so; but for reasons best known to our Foreign Secretary the post has been vacant for some time; and I have no intelligence that it is likely to be filled in the near future, although it is now the key point of the north. In tbe meantime I am charged with a watching brief, but there is little I can do at such a distance."
For a moment Roger was silent, then he asked: "What think you of Swed
en's chances against Russia should Gustavus decide to attack her?"
" 'Tis hard to say," Elliot shrugged. "While Russia remains fully extended against the Turks Gustavus will have her at a grave disadvantage. On the other hand he will, I think, be fighting with a half-blunted sword."
"How mean you, Sir?"
"He is popular with his people but much disliked by his nobility; since he has deprived them of the power they had held in earlier reigns. Therefore his officers will not follow him to war with any
great enthusiasm. Moreover, he has not a single good General, whereas Russia is well-found in that way; and both her officers and men will show the most desperate valour against any foe that their Empress may order them to attack. Having fought in the Russian army myself I can vouch for its metal."
Roger looked his surprise. "Sir James told me that as a youth you had military ambitions, Sir; but how came it that you saw service with the Russians?"
"Simply because the British would not have me," came the smiling reply. "When I was ten a friend of my father's exercised his right as Colonel of a newly-raised regiment to present me with a Lieutenant's commission in it. Naturally my parents would not allow me to take it up until I had completed my education, but from that day I looked upon myself as a soldier. I spent two years at a military school in Paris before going to Oxford and afterwards resumed my military studies at Metz and Strasbourg. Only then did I learn that the War Secretary, Lord Barrington, had refused to ratify my commission with the seniority technically due to me."
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