and persuaded him at the eleventh hour to beat a dignified retreat.
Pepys draws a pretty picture of Miss Stuart at this time, as he saw her
riding, among the Ladies of Honour, with the Queen in the Park.
"I followed them," he says, "up into Whitehall, and into the Queen's
presence, where all the ladies walked, talking and fiddling with their
hats and feathers, and changing and trying one another's by one
another's heads and laughing. But, above all, Mrs Stuart in this dresse,
with her hat cocked and a red plume, with her sweet eyes, little Roman
nose, and excellent taille, is now the greatest beauty I ever saw, I think,
in my life; and, if ever woman can, do exceed my Lady Castlemaine, at
least in this dress. Nor do I wonder if the King changes, which I verily
believe is the reason of his coldness to my Lady Castlemaine."
How many hearts Frances Stuart toyed with and broke in these days of
her girlish beauty and irresponsibility will never be known; but we
know that at least one hopeless wooer committed suicide, and another,
Francis Digby, Lord Bristol's handsome son, after years of unrequited
idolatry, in his despair rushed away to seek and find death in the Dutch
war.
And it was not only over men that Frances Stuart cast the spell of her
witchery. One of her earliest and most ardent admirers was none other
than my Lady Castlemaine herself, who alone claimed to hold her
Sovereign's heart. So secure she thought herself of her supremacy that
she not only took the French beauty into favour, but actually
encouraged Charles in his pursuit of her, probably little realising how
dangerous a rival she was taking to her bosom. It is said that this was
but an artifice to divert Charles's attention from an intrigue that she was
carrying on with that rakish beau, Henry Jermyn; but, whatever the
cause, there is no doubt that for a time she lost no opportunity of
throwing her Royal lover and the fair Stuart together. She even looked
on smilingly at a mock marriage, at one of her own entertainments,
between the pair--"with ring and all other ceremonies of church service
and ribands, and a sack-posset in bed, and flinging the stocking,
evincing neither anger nor jealousy, but entering into the diversion with
great spirit."
And not only did she thus trifle with fire; for some months she rarely
saw the King but in Miss Stuart's presence.
"The King," to quote Hamilton again, "who seldom neglected to visit
the Countess before she rose, seldom failed likewise to find Miss Stuart
with her. The most indifferent objects have charms in a new attachment;
however, the Countess was not jealous of this rival's appearing with her
in such a situation, being confident that whenever she thought fit, she
could triumph over all the advantages which these opportunities could
afford Miss Stuart."
As a matter of fact Charles's maitresse en titre regarded the
"Mademoiselle" as nothing more dangerous than a pretty, winsome
child. "She is a lovely little thing," she once said patronisingly, "but she
is only a spoiled child, fonder of her toys and games than of the finest
lover in the world." But she was not long left in this unsuspicious
Paradise. There was soon no doubt that the "child" had made a
conquest of the King, and that she, the mother of his children, no longer
held the throne of his heart.
Her first rude disillusionment came when Charles was presented by
Gramont with "the most elegant and magnificent carriage (called a
'calash') that had ever been seen." The Queen herself and Lady
Castlemaine each decided that she and no other should be the first to
take an airing in Hyde Park in this georgeous vehicle, which was sure
to create an unparalleled sensation; and each exerted her utmost arts
and eloquence to secure this concession from the King.
"Miss Stuart, however, had the same wish and requested to have the
calash on the same occasion. The Queen retired in disdain from such a
contest, while the King was driven to distraction between the cajoling
and threats of the two rival beauties."
It was Miss Stuart, however, who won the day, to Lady Castlemaine's
unrestrained rage and disgust. The child had scored the first point in the
duel, the prize of which was the King's favour.
According to Hamilton, this victory was believed to have cost the
"prude" her virtue; but Miss Stuart had proved again and again that she
was no such compliant maid. The only passport to her favours, though
a King sought them, was a wedding-ring; and amid all the temptations
of a dissolute Court, where virtue was as hard to seek as a needle in a a
bundle
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