Duke Ernest Augustus was now home from Carlsbad, much the better of his gout, and in good temper with things generally. He was indulgent to Sophie Dorothea and her whims, except when they crossed his wishes. In this case he could not see anything very wrong in her conduct, though the circumstance was grossly exaggerated by the Countess, and he turned a deaf ear to her hints and innuendoes, refusing to believe any evil. Perhaps he had a shrewd idea that jealousy was at the bottom of it. But afterwards he remonstrated with the Princess, and reprimanded Königsmarck for having been guilty of an impertinence, though, Hanoverian etiquette apart, he seems to have only performed an act of natural courtesy. The incident was reported about the court, and from the tittle-tattle came the first breath of scandal which afterwards tarnished so sadly the mirror of Sophie Dorothea’s fair name.[46] ----- Footnote 46: The authority for this incident, and the episode of the embroidered glove which follows, may be traced either to the _Roman Octavia_, by Duke Antony Ulrich, or to the writings of Major Müller, who was for some time librarian to the late Duke of Cambridge, when Regent of Hanover, and who had free access to the Hanoverian archives. Count Schulenburg considered his writings worthy of credit, but I cannot vouch for their accuracy, though the inherent probability of these incidents justifies their insertion here. ----- Soon after this the Hanoverian court, except the Duchess Sophia, went on a visit to Brunswick, according to their annual custom, to divert themselves with an opera and the fair.[47] The Duke and Duchess of Celle were there also, and Duke Antony Ulrich with his family and a numerous court. Antony Ulrich had now become co-regent with his elder brother, Duke Rudolph Augustus, who, being a scholar and recluse, practically left all government in his hands. It was Antony Ulrich who dictated the policy of the House of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and he kept his court sometimes at Wolfenbüttel and sometimes at Brunswick. Brunswick was then a Hanseatic town of considerable importance, strongly fortified, and much frequented by merchants. The annual fair was a great event which the pleasure-loving court of Hanover would not forego. Not the recent death of the Prince, nor the reverses of the army in the Morea, nor the ill-concealed enmity between the Duke of Hanover and Duke Antony Ulrich sufficed to keep Ernest Augustus from the Brunswick revels. Just now in the interests of the great alliance the feud between them was slumbering. Sophie Dorothea was there too, and so doubtless was Königsmarck. The death of the Elector Palatine put a sudden end to the ill-timed festivities. ----- Footnote 47: Colt’s _Hanover Correspondence_, August 12, 1690. -----