[[A.D. 1788.]] Everything was forgotten by Queen Charlotte, except the alarming illness that now threatened the {189}king. He tried to conceal it as long as possible, and by so doing became much worse, until at last the disease affected his brain, and he was seized with delirium. This lasted so long that it was thought death would result; and the politicians, belonging both to the government and the opposition party, began to speculate as to how far they, individually, would be affected. The Prince of Wales and his brother of York did not behave with common decency at this time, but gayly flew about from club to club, party to party, without even pretending to care that their father was ill and suffering. Their shameful conduct was universally discussed, for they acted like men with little feeling and less brains. The poor queen had a succession of fainting spells that prostrated her almost as low as her royal husband. Between these attacks she would pace her room, too nervous to rest, and if by way of solace she attempted to read aloud to her children, she would stop in the midst of it and burst into an agony of tears. The royal patient constantly bewailed the fact that he could not sleep, and would pray aloud for that blessing; then he would declare that he needed no physician but the queen, adding: "She is my best friend; where could I find a better?" One night he got out of bed, and with a candle in his hand, walked to the queen's couch to make sure that she had not left him; then he sat and conversed with her, at times rather incoherently and hoarsely, for nearly an hour. The sufferer was occasionally better, but relapses were so frequent that at last the queen was advised to remove to a room in another part of the palace,--the one she had occupied adjoining the king's being required for the medical men and others, who, with the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, kept watch. One night the king suddenly appeared among them, and {190}roughly asked what they were there for. They endeavored to pacify him, but in vain; he treated them all as enemies. His second son had slipped out as the father entered, and that made a favorable impression on the poor invalid, who said, touchingly, "Freddy is my friend,--yes, _he_ is my friend!" At last, after a good deal of maneuvering and whispering on the part of the gentlemen present, one of' them with gentle firmness led him back to bed. Everything was badly managed at Windsor just at this time; for the simple reason that the queen, rather from necessity than choice, submitted to the Prince of Wales and depended on him, and he lost no time in making her feel that he was supreme master. Nothing was done but by his orders; and the queen spent her time in patient sorrow and retirement with her daughters, whose conduct formed a pleasing contrast to that of the sons.