At this point, she was regarded at court as a temporary amusement. She was referred to as "la belle Colombe" by the king, who gave her gifts financed by his income from Hesse. In the winter of 1733–34, Taube was pregnant with her first child. The affair was kept a secret: Taube retired to her room simulating bedridden illness as soon as the pregnancy could not be hidden, and before the birth was due, in February 1734 the king convinced the queen to take the royal court to Ulriksdal Palace, and Taube was left alone to give birth in the royal palace in Stockholm. The child, a daughter known as "Mamsell Erlich", was left to a foster mother, but died soon after. Hedvig Taube avoided official discovery, but the birth was subject of widespread gossip in the capital.