to see the king. A messenger from Warminster!
“Show him in. Doubtless he comes from Churchill.”
“Your Majesty, Churchill is no longer at Warminster. He has left with his men …”
“Left? For what destination?”
“Torbay, Your Majesty. He is joining Orange. Grafton is with him. They have gone over to the enemy.”
James lay back on his pillows.
He saw defeat very near.
Churchill gone! Grafton gone! And there was one other. Prince George of Denmark, husband of the Princess Anne, had joined with Churchill and Grafton. They no longer served the King of England but had gone to Orange.
“There is a conspiracy in my army,” said James.
“Sire,” was the answer, “you no longer have an army.”
He must return to London, he must see his daughter at once.
She would comfort him. His dear Anne! Her husband was a traitor, even as Mary’s was; but George had always been a weak fellow, never much use.
In desperation he rode toward his capital. When he had seen Anne his faith would be restored. They would stand together; the people loved her; she was a Protestant as William was; they would prefer to see her on the throne rather than this foreigner who had no right to it while Mary and Anne lived.
But in London came the last defeat.
The Princess Anne had left hurriedly with Lady Churchill.
He knew what this meant; his daughter had deserted him.
So they are both against me, mourned James. My little girls. My Mary! My Anne!
He could see them so vividly—one dark, one fair, and he could recall his delight in them.
Charles had envied him his children and they had brought great joy to his life … when they were children and afterward.
He was a family man; the happiest times of his life, he believed, had not been when he was with his mistresses, but in the center of his family.
My daughters, he mourned, whom I loved with all my heart—and they have placed themselves among my enemies.
Mary Beatrice tried to comfort him.
“They cannot succeed,” she cried. “They are so wrong, so cruel. You are the King.”
“They do not intend that I shall remain so.”
“You think they will make William King? Never! He is not the heir. Even if they will not accept the Prince of Wales, Mary comes before him. She is your daughter. She would never agree to take your place.”
“He will set himself up with Mary. It was for this reason he married her. Would to God I had never allowed the marriage.”
“I am sure Mary will never agree to force you from your throne.”
“Mary is his creature … Anne is against me. I have lost both my daughters.”
“You have your wife,” she told him. “You have your son.”
“I bless the day you came to England.”
She closed her eyes and momentarily thought of it; the fear of this roué whom she had grown to love; the years of jealousy; and she was almost glad that he was brought so low for she was the one who could help him now; his mistresses could give him nothing but passing pleasure; she could give him unfaltering love and devotion.
“What should I do without you?” he asked.
“What should we do without each other?”
She saw that a slip of paper had been pushed under the door and withdrawing herself from his arms went to it.
It was a lampoon about the Prince of Wales having been brought to her bed in a warming pan.
She dropped it to the floor with a cry of distaste. James picked it up and read it.
“We are in danger,” he said. “You and the boy must leave England without delay.”
The Queen and the Prince of Wales had fled to France. Before the end of the year James had followed them. This was success beyond that for which they had dared hope. William was in London, and it would not be long before Mary must join him.
She was afraid.
There was no longer need to pray for William’s safety, the revolution was over. The people had accepted William, although Mary was the Queen. William’s position would depend on her, but he had no qualms; nor need he have. All that he desired should be his.
And now Mary must prepare herself for the great ordeal. What would she find on her arrival in England?
She did not want to think too much of it; yet she must make ready.
Elizabeth Villiers would make ready too. She had been calm and self-effacing during the difficult weeks, withdrawing herself from Mary’s society as much as possible. She would of course