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sister Charlotte to call on him at the Royal Palace she sensed his anxiety immediately.
    ‘You look well,’ he told her. ‘Rumpenheim has done you good.’
    ‘It always does,’ she told him. ‘I was glad that Louise and the children were able to stay. It’s so good for them to get away from the Yellow Palace.’
    The King nodded. ‘Louise is a clever girl. You must be proud of her.’ He spoke wistfully and Charlotte knew he was thinking of the unsatisfactory Frederick.
    The King was a good man, but it was a pity his personality was not one to please the people. He was so reserved that he appeared to be unfriendly. It didn’t matter that he was ready to sacrifice a good deal for the benefit of Denmark, and the reason he did not wish to grant the country a constitution was because he knew it was not prepared for it yet. He had not that natural bonhomie which people demanded in their rulers and it seemed they would prefer a rogue with it, than an idealist without it.
    ‘It’s a pity,’ said Charlotte, ‘that they find it so difficult to make ends meet. But she is an excellent manager and I think Christian realises his good fortune in marrying her.’
    ‘How I wish Frederick could have been as fortunate.’
    ‘Perhaps he would not have realised the worth of such a wife.’
    ‘He seems to be keeping with this new woman.’
    ‘And indulging in adventures meanwhile.’
    ‘Frederick calls himself the cosmopolitan bohemian.’
    ‘And this Louise Rasmussen. I hear she was a Parisian midinette. Is that true?’
    ‘She has also had a post as governess, and she has been a ballet dancer, so she is a woman of many parts. She is well known because they are seen strolling together arm in arm or he waits patiently while she shops and then carries the parcels home for her.’
    ‘Quite domesticated. I should hardly have thought Frederick was that.’
    ‘Frederick is anything that is not usual. I do wonder what will happen, Charlotte, when I’m dead.’
    ‘Frederick will come to the throne.’
    ‘But what will become of Denmark under such a king?’
    ‘Denmark has had some unworthy kings and managed to survive.’
    ‘The great point is that he has no heir and he never will have one.’
    ‘Is that quite out of the question?’
    ‘My dear sister, he has been divorced three times. Each of his wives was selected for her suitability and what was the result – no heirs, no marriage – for each one of them has ended. He cannot marry this woman he is now living with. Even Frederick must see that we cannot have a French midinette for Queen of Denmark. So when I die and Frederick comes to the throne there will be no heir to follow him. There could not be a more disastrous state of affairs. Schleswig-Holstein is always ready to give us trouble. What would happen, do you think, if Frederick died and there was no one to follow him? I can tell you, sister, that I have spent some sleepless nights over this matter.’
    ‘Do you think Frederick should marry again?’
    The King shook his head. ‘Even so, I don’t think there would be a child. We were talking about Louise. She is astute; she is clever.’
    ‘Louise! How could Louise come into this?’
    ‘You are forgetting that as my sister you are in the line of succession. If Frederick should produce no heirs you could be the Queen of Denmark.’
    ‘I! Oh no, impossible! I should not be fitted for the task.’
    ‘I knew you would say that, Charlotte, and that is why I asked you to come here to discuss this plan of mine. I want you to claim the throne. I want you to be recognised as the heir provided Frederick does not produce a son; then I suggest that you pass your claim to Louise. Louise has a husband. He is not exactly brilliant but he is adequate. He is honest, good-looking and capable. With Louise to guide him he would be a good King.’
    ‘Louise and Christian, Queen and King of Denmark!’
    ‘Why not? I should feel much happier if they were next in succession than I