It was a bitter cup for the princess to drink, but she drank it: she
reflected that it might be the only way of quitting a court where, in
case of her father's death, she would be dependent on her brother
Frederick, or on that weak prince's strong-minded wife. So she
consented, and took the dwarf; and that consent was regarded by a
grateful people, and by all good courtiers, as a sacrifice for the sake
of Protestant principles, the House of Orange being, _par excellence_,
at the head of the orthodox dynasties in Europe. A dowry of L80,000 was
forthwith granted by an admiring Commons--just double what had ever been
given before. That sum was happily lying in the exchequer, being the
purchase-money of some lands in St. Christopher's which had lately been
sold; and King George was thankful to get rid of a daughter whose
haughtiness gave him trouble. In person, too, the princess royal was not
very ornamental to the Court. She was ill-made, with a propensity to
grow fat; her complexion, otherwise very fine, was marked with the
small-pox; she had, however, a lively, clean look--one of her chief
beauties--and a certain royalty of manner.
The Princess Amelia died, as the world thought, single, but consoled
herself with various love flirtations.
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