When the king returned from his Holstein tour, it was arranged that the queen should drive seven or eight leagues from Copenhagen to meet him. He received her with all the empressement of which he was capable; he got into her carriage, and those who were only imperfectly acquainted with the state of things might imagine that he was resuming his true place.
But the conduct which the queen had before assumed in the hope of entirely winning her husband's affection, was now dictated by resentment. The party of Juliana Maria, who desired a separation between the couple, had informed Caroline Matilda of her husband's conduct while absent, and the result was a decided coldness. This produced such savageness in the king, and he was so dissatisfied, that he complained about his consort in the presence of his domestics. This was a famous opening for these creatures, who took all possible trouble to direct Christian's attention to other ladies. One of the royal runners, of the name of Hjorth, hence said to the king one day that it would be easy to avenge himself for the queen's coldness, as there were plenty of fair dames who would accept the king's visits more than willingly. His Majesty only required to keep a mistress, and such a person his most gracious master could find at any moment. Hjorth proposed to the king a well-known Hetæra, called "Stiefelett-Kathrine," on account of her beautiful feet, whose acquaintance the pander had, probably, made beforehand.[50] Christian willingly assented, saw the girl, found her pretty and insinuating, and entered into the unfortunate connexion with her, by which he was led into the most horrible and open profligacy.
The leader of these orgies was Count Conrad von Holck, a scampish and good-tempered young fellow, of the same age as the king. The ministers, who should have kept a watchful eye on everything that might have an injurious effect on the character of the young king, were not sorry to see the autocrat yielding to the seductive influences of his loose favourite. But Count Conrad in no way betrayed the slightest desire to interfere in the business of the state, and was consequently harmless.
The growing influence of this minion drove from court the only honest man remaining at it. One evening, Holck promised Milady a box at the theatre, and Reverdil saw her sitting above the maids of honour, who were facing the queen. Being at the time close to Holck, the virtuous Swiss could not refrain from speaking out. "Sir," he said, "though you may turn into ridicule a hundred times an expression which I have frequent occasion to repeat, I say again, that a man can be neither a good subject, nor a good servant, who does not weep to see such a creature thus defy the queen, and the king make himself, to the great peril of the state, the greluchon of a foreign minister." The next day Reverdil received a written order from the king to leave Copenhagen in twenty-four hours.
The first important sign of the king's most favourable sentiments toward the young protégé was Holck's appointment, on December 21, 1767, as Court Marshal. From this time Count Holck managed all the festivities at court, where comedies, balls, masquerades, and excursions followed each other uninterruptedly. The king, however, preferred, to all these distractions, any opportunity of yielding to his temperament without the trammels of a court. Holck frequently gave brilliant luncheons at the Blaagard, a castellated building outside the north gate, used at that time for all sorts of festivities, and Christian took much pleasure in them. At night, however, Holck accompanied the king on his visits to Milady and back again, during which, street riots were but too frequent.
It has been urged in apology for Holck, that he did not really lead the king into these excesses, but could not refrain from sharing in them, through fear of incurring the king's displeasure. Moreover, he considered his presence at these extravagances necessary, partly because he at times succeeded in moderating the intended outrages, partly because he was able to give the people offended by the damage sustained a secret hint that the doer of the mischief was his most sacred Majesty the King. Only in that way was it possible to save the king from abuse, or even from personal violence. Holck, it is further said, did the reckless young king a real service, because, in the end, he induced him to give up his connexion with the notorious Milady, who had not only led the king into illicit amours, but had also persuaded him to make nocturnal sallies in the streets, to fight with the watchmen, and force his way into low houses whose keepers had given her cause of offence, to break glasses, bottles, and windows, and commit similar acts of folly. In truth, it may have appeared evident to Holck that such almost incredible behaviour would eventually rob the king of all respect, and expose him to the ridicule of the nation.
It is not my intention to bring before the reader the lengthened chronique scandaleuse which I have been compelled to wade through. In giving what I have, it was rather my purpose to offer a sketch of court life a hundred years ago, as an introduction to an historical drama which may seek its counterpart in vain in the world's annals.
Before concluding this chapter, space may be granted to a small paragraph from the "Annual Register," which offers a further sign of the times:—