Royal Sisters: The Story of the Daughters of James II by Jean Plaidy Page A
Authors: Jean Plaidy
Ads: Link
Sunderlands.
Anne and Sarah had no idea that certain members of their household were sending information about the happenings in the Cockpit to The Hague; and that the Princess of Orange was learning how very much her sister was under the influence of Lady Churchill.
The venomous attacks on various personalities of the Court could not, Mary guessed, have been written by Anne alone. Mary wrote a personal letter to her sister warning her that the reports she received of Lady Churchill did not altogether please her and she begged her sister to be a little more discreet with her woman.
Sarah was with Anne when this letter arrived and as she read it, her face was flooded with angry color.
“There are people who wish you ill, Mrs. Morley,” she declared. “That is the reason why they wish to separate us. They know how I carry your welfare in my heart; they know that I would serve you with my life. Oh, it is clear to me that ill-wishers have done this.”
“It is folly, Sarah. But I will put this right. I will tell my sister immediately how good you are.”
Sarah angrily took the pen from Anne’s hand and wrote:
Sorry people have taken such pains to give so ill a character of Lady Churchill. I believe there is nobody in the world has better notions of religion than she has. It is true she is not so strict as some are, nor does she keep such a bustle with religion; which I confess I think is never the worse, for one sees so many saints mere devils, that if one be a good Christian, the less show one makes the better in my opinion. Then, as for moral principles, it is impossible to have better, and without all that, lifting up of the hands and eyes, and often going to church will prove but a lame devotion. One thing more I must say for her which is that she has a true sense of the doctrine of our Church, and abhors all the principles of the church of Rome. As to this particular, I assure you she will never change. The same thing I will venture, now I am on this subject, to say for her lord, for though he is a very faithful servant to King James, and the King is very kind to him, and I believe he will always obey the King in all things that are consistent with religion, yet rather than change that , I daresay he will lose all his places and everything he has.…
Sarah looked up. She had written some of the fury out of herself.
“This is the sort of letter,” she said, “I suggest you write to the Princess of Orange. It is monstrous that one who has done nothing but good should be so slandered. But I know that my dear Mrs. Morley will not allow this injustice to pass. I know she will write this letter to her sister.”
“You may trust me, my dear Mrs. Freeman,” Anne promised her.
Sarah left Anne to write her letters and went to her own apartments to cool off her temper.
The Princess of Orange had never liked her. A pretty state of affairs if she should return and take the throne. Who knew what influence she would try to exert over Anne—she, and her Caliban of a husband.
Anne could be a sentimental fool. Like her father she was often brooding on the old days of childhood. It was “Dear Mary this” and “Dear Mary that.”
Well, thought Sarah, not even the Queen of England shall insult Sarah Churchill.
Sarah came running into her mistress’s apartments. She was flushed and breathless and before she spoke Anne saw that something had happened to upset her.
“You have not yet heard the rumors,” said Sarah. “I can see that.”
“Tell me, Sarah, what is it?”
“The Queen believes that she may be pregnant.”
Anne started at Sarah; not until this moment had the Princess realized how deep were her desires, how ambitious she had become.
The Queen pregnant! What if she should be brought to bed of a son. That would be the end of all Anne’s dreams. If she had a half brother, neither she nor Mary could come to the throne.
THE WARMING-PAN SCANDAL
s soon as the news was made public the Court and country
Anne and Sarah had no idea that certain members of their household were sending information about the happenings in the Cockpit to The Hague; and that the Princess of Orange was learning how very much her sister was under the influence of Lady Churchill.
The venomous attacks on various personalities of the Court could not, Mary guessed, have been written by Anne alone. Mary wrote a personal letter to her sister warning her that the reports she received of Lady Churchill did not altogether please her and she begged her sister to be a little more discreet with her woman.
Sarah was with Anne when this letter arrived and as she read it, her face was flooded with angry color.
“There are people who wish you ill, Mrs. Morley,” she declared. “That is the reason why they wish to separate us. They know how I carry your welfare in my heart; they know that I would serve you with my life. Oh, it is clear to me that ill-wishers have done this.”
“It is folly, Sarah. But I will put this right. I will tell my sister immediately how good you are.”
Sarah angrily took the pen from Anne’s hand and wrote:
Sorry people have taken such pains to give so ill a character of Lady Churchill. I believe there is nobody in the world has better notions of religion than she has. It is true she is not so strict as some are, nor does she keep such a bustle with religion; which I confess I think is never the worse, for one sees so many saints mere devils, that if one be a good Christian, the less show one makes the better in my opinion. Then, as for moral principles, it is impossible to have better, and without all that, lifting up of the hands and eyes, and often going to church will prove but a lame devotion. One thing more I must say for her which is that she has a true sense of the doctrine of our Church, and abhors all the principles of the church of Rome. As to this particular, I assure you she will never change. The same thing I will venture, now I am on this subject, to say for her lord, for though he is a very faithful servant to King James, and the King is very kind to him, and I believe he will always obey the King in all things that are consistent with religion, yet rather than change that , I daresay he will lose all his places and everything he has.…
Sarah looked up. She had written some of the fury out of herself.
“This is the sort of letter,” she said, “I suggest you write to the Princess of Orange. It is monstrous that one who has done nothing but good should be so slandered. But I know that my dear Mrs. Morley will not allow this injustice to pass. I know she will write this letter to her sister.”
“You may trust me, my dear Mrs. Freeman,” Anne promised her.
Sarah left Anne to write her letters and went to her own apartments to cool off her temper.
The Princess of Orange had never liked her. A pretty state of affairs if she should return and take the throne. Who knew what influence she would try to exert over Anne—she, and her Caliban of a husband.
Anne could be a sentimental fool. Like her father she was often brooding on the old days of childhood. It was “Dear Mary this” and “Dear Mary that.”
Well, thought Sarah, not even the Queen of England shall insult Sarah Churchill.
Sarah came running into her mistress’s apartments. She was flushed and breathless and before she spoke Anne saw that something had happened to upset her.
“You have not yet heard the rumors,” said Sarah. “I can see that.”
“Tell me, Sarah, what is it?”
“The Queen believes that she may be pregnant.”
Anne started at Sarah; not until this moment had the Princess realized how deep were her desires, how ambitious she had become.
The Queen pregnant! What if she should be brought to bed of a son. That would be the end of all Anne’s dreams. If she had a half brother, neither she nor Mary could come to the throne.
THE WARMING-PAN SCANDAL
s soon as the news was made public the Court and country
Similar Books
