"You require," he said to the queen, "to give your confidence; and to whom could you better impart your sorrows than to your friends, to those from whom you can expect succour, owing to their ascendancy over the king? It is the misfortune of persons of your rank to have no equals, and to live only among jealous people and valets. Mutual services establish a species of equality between you and the persons who are able to oblige you."
These remarks were true: they were founded on the experience of the past: they were uttered by an amiable and insinuating man, and addressed to a person already too persuaded; to a queen who detested her rank. She unhesitatingly accepted the friendship offered her, and the proofs she gave of her own became daily more marked. Conscious of her innocence, Caroline Matilda behaved in a manner that caused people to talk, and her conduct was certainly most imprudent. Struensee was constantly seen in her company, and she granted him familiarities which, as Reverdil says, "would have ruined any ordinary woman." She gave him a seat in her carriage when they were in the country, and took solitary walks with him in the gardens and woods. At the court balls he was her constant partner, and when she rode out he was her favoured cavalier.[107] No wonder that the scandal grew, and was doubtless fanned by the ever watchful Juliana Maria. Had it been a great nobleman, it would have been different, of course, but Struensee, doctor, reader, and even raised to the second class by the title of councillor, was not an officer of the court, and could hold but one position, since he showed himself everywhere.[108]
As Holck did not dare to attack Struensee, he resolved to remove Warnstedt from the king's presence, and fancied he had discovered a good way of doing so. He proposed to the king to undertake another pleasure trip to the duchies. It was his intention, and that of his partisans, that the queen should not accompany her husband, so that they might the more easily sway the monarch when his consort was away from him. But Caroline Matilda had now more power than before the king's first journey abroad: she resolved to go too,—and Christian offered no objection. When the journey was definitively arranged for the beginning of May, Holck effected the appointment of young Herr von Hauch as page to the king, vice Warnstedt, promoted an equerry and chamberlain. But the count's glee at this victory was of but short duration, for in a few days the new page was obliged to quit the court again, though for what reason remained a mystery.
The journey was appointed for June 6, at the latest, but the old queen dowager, Sophia Magdalena, was taken ill on May 18, and died on the 27th. During the last few years she had not exercised any influence over her grandson, Christian, who was now doing his hardest to break through all his old connections in the capital. Hence, the mourning for the deceased queen was limited to the extraordinarily short period of six weeks, and to the capital, while the court retired to Frederiksberg, to escape the troublesome restraint. The departure for the duchies, however, was, for the sake of propriety, deferred till the funeral was over. The preparations were consequently hastened, and on June 13 the corpse was deposited in the royal vault of the Roeskilde Cathedral. On the 18th, their Majesties commenced their journey to their German subjects.
I need hardly say that Struensee and Warnstedt were in waiting, and Count Holck also accompanied the king. Of the members of the privy council of state, only Bernstorff was present. Reventlow paid a visit to his estates; while Thott, Moltke, and Rosenkrantz, remained in Copenhagen to attend to current business, but with express orders not to have any dealings with the foreign envoys during the king's absence; and the latter were requested, in the event of any pressing matter, to apply in writing to Count Bernstorff. The tour was in truth only a little change for the king, who was growing daily more imbecile; but it was employed by the queen, Struensee, and their partisans, to introduce the reforms they had secretly planned into the government.
Not one of the courtiers on whom Holck could reckon was in the suite. It is true that his brother, Gustavus, his brother-in-law and sister, the Von der Lühes, and his cousin, Von Lüttichau, were attached to the court; but all these were only kept in place by his influence, so that Count Bernstorff was the sole member of the Holck party left. But the count himself was beginning to totter, so that he could only keep his own position with difficulty, and was quite unable to support others.
For some time past it had grown quite clear to Bernstorff that the king did not regard him so kindly as formerly. He had drawn the queen's displeasure on himself by aiding in the dismissal of Frau von Plessen, and he justly regarded his colleague, Rosenkrantz, as an enemy, because that intriguing gentleman had first aroused the queen's anger against him. Lastly, Bernstorff was growing seriously alarmed about Struensee's increasing influence and rapid advancement. Latterly, Filosofow, probably instigated by revenge, had repeatedly urged him to remove this dangerous man from court, and offered the assistance of the empress in effecting it. But Bernstorff declined the offer, as he did not consider the opposite party would be so bold as to attack a minister of his reputation, whom even a Danneskjold Samsöe had been unable to overthrow. Still, he requested Filosofow, who was on the point of visiting the baths of Aix-la-Chapelle, to go only as far as Pyrmont, so that he might be at hand should his assistance be required.[109]
Among Struensee's partisans, Von Warnstedt appeared to have the greatest influence over the king. Chamberlain von Bülow also seemed to have some power over him, but not nearly so much as his colleague. But on this occasion Caroline Matilda had joined the travelling party, and had become the chief personage, through the king's growing weakness. She was also of opinion that no peace could be thought of so long as Holck was suffered in the king's presence. Although Struensee no longer regarded the king's former intimate as dangerous, still, to pacify the queen, he proposed to her to recall two gentlemen from banishment who had formerly been esteemed by the monarch.
On June 13, the count arrived at Gottorp Castle, in the town of Schleswig, which had been occupied since 1769 by the king's favourite sister and her husband, the viceroy of the duchies, Landgrave Charles. The latter drove out a league to meet their royal relations; and the meeting was most cordial, especially between the queen and her sister-in-law, who had not met since Caroline Matilda's marriage. The king, too, seemed at first greatly pleased at the meeting; spoke a good deal with the landgrave, and at dinner invited him to come as soon as he could to Copenhagen, as many of the Holsteiners would follow the example of their viceroy. But the court soon assumed a more earnest character during the few days they remained at Gottorp. Weighty changes were preparing; the ground was shaking under the feet of many great gentlemen; and Struensee's power had already grown so great, that he was able to carry out the recall of Brandt to court, which took place here.