Meanwhile George Augustus, in accordance with the Elector’s plan, had arrived at Ansbach. He professed to be a young Hanoverian noble travelling for pleasure, who expected to meet at Nuremberg some travelling companions from Westphalia, but as they had failed to appear, he found Nuremberg dull, and came on to Ansbach to see the town and visit its court. He and his companion, Baron von Eltz, presented introductions from Count Platen, the Hanoverian Prime Minister, commending them to the good offices of the Margrave. They were received at the palace and treated with all hospitality; they were invited to supper, and joined the circle afterwards at music and cards. George Augustus, in the guise of a Hanoverian nobleman, was presented to the Princess Caroline, and conversed with her for some time. According to his subsequent declarations he was so much charmed with her that he fell in love at first sight. She far exceeded all that rumour had declared. It may be presumed that he kept his ardour in check, and Caroline had no idea who he was. But whether she had an inkling or not, she betrayed no sign, and played her part to perfection. After a few days’ sojourn at Ansbach the young prince departed, apparently to Nuremberg to meet his friends, in reality to hasten back to Hanover to tell his father that he was very much in love. Here again we quote Poley:—
“The Prince Electoral is returned and gone to Herrenhausen. He was about two hours with the Elector alone, and the Elector’s appearing afterwards in good humour at table makes it to be imagined that there hath nothing happened but what he is well pleased with. Some with whom I am acquainted are positively of opinion that his Highness hath been at Ansbach, and that he declared his design himself in person, and hath been very well received, and that we shall soon see some effects of it; others think it is a Princess of Hesse.”[13]
But no explanation of the Prince’s expedition was forthcoming, and the Elector went off to Pyrmont to take the waters, leaving the Hanoverian Court in mystification. The secret was well kept; even the Electress Sophia was not informed, notwithstanding that this was her darling scheme. The Elector had contempt for women’s discretion; he often declared that he could not trust a woman’s tongue, and he knew that his mother was a constant correspondent with the greatest gossip in Europe, her niece, Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans.
Matters being thus far advanced at Hanover, Eltz was again despatched to Ansbach. “He hath disappeared secretly,” writes the lynx-eyed Poley, who was still much mystified. When Eltz returned to Ansbach, he kept up his disguise and told the Margrave that he had just returned from Nuremberg, where he had left his young friend. The Elector of Hanover’s secret instructions to Eltz, and the Envoy’s letters to the Elector (preserved in the Hanoverian archives) explain what followed, and the whole of the negotiations at Ansbach. It will be well to quote them in full:—
The Elector of Hanover to Privy Councillor von Eltz.
“Hanover, June 17th, 1705.
“Whereas, it is already known to our trusty Envoy, that our son, the Electoral Prince, has seen the Princess of Ansbach, and is seized with such an affection and desire for her, that he is most eager to marry her without delay: We therefore should gladly rejoice to see such a union take place, and hope that the Princess may be equally favourably disposed. It is necessary, however, that her inclinations be assured first of all, and, should she consent to this alliance, it is our wish that the marriage contracts may be agreed upon without unnecessary delay.
“We therefore instruct our Envoy to betake himself, secretly and incognito, to the Court of Ansbach. On arriving there he must feign surprise that his friends from Westphalia, who had arranged to meet him at Nuremberg on their way to Italy, had not yet arrived. Moreover, he must say that the young friend who had accompanied him the last time he was at Ansbach having been unexpectedly called home, he, our Envoy, found the time of waiting so long at Nuremberg that he returned to Ansbach, and would consider it a special favour if he might be allowed to pass a few more days at that Court.
“Having made this explanation, our Envoy should seek an opportunity of conversing alone with the Princess, and should say to her privately, when no one else is within hearing, that he had matters of importance to bring before her notice, and certain proposals to make, which he hoped would not prove disagreeable to her. He must therefore beg her to name a convenient time and opportunity to grant him an interview alone, but in such a manner as to cause no comment. He should also ask her, particularly, not to confide to any one the request he had made, the more especially because the Princess would subsequently see that the matter was of so delicate a nature as to require absolute secrecy for the present.
“When our Envoy is admitted to the Princess, he must explain to her that the young friend who accompanied him on his last visit to the Court of Ansbach was our son, the Electoral Prince, who had been so much impressed with the reports of the Princess’s incomparable beauty and mental attributes that he arranged to appear incognito, and have the honour of seeing and speaking with the Princess without her knowing his electoral rank and station. As he had succeeded in doing this, and had found that the reports were more than verified, our son is so charmed and delighted with her that he would consider it the height of good fortune to obtain her for his wife, and has asked our permission to seek this end. As we, the Elector, have always held the Princess in highest esteem and repute, we are not a little rejoiced to hear that our son cherished these sentiments towards her, and we should be even more glad if he could attain the object of his mission.