n
granted neither guards, nor palace, nor homages of state to the Queen,
his mother, although daughter and sister of two French kings; that this
Queen, in a modest retirement--sometimes in a cell in the convent of
Chaillot, sometimes in her little pavilion at Colombesl--had died,
poisoned by her physician, without the orator, Bossuet, having even
frowned at it in the funeral oration; that the unfortunate Henrietta
daughter of this Queen and first wife of Monsieur had succumbed to the
horrible tortures of a poisoning even more visible and manifest; whilst
her poisoners, who were well known, had never been in the least blamed
or disgraced.

[Mademoiselle de Montpensier, in her Memoirs, says that this Queen,
already languishing, had lost her sleep, and was given soporific pills,
on account of which Henrietta of France awoke no more; but it is probable
that the servants, and not the doctors, committed this blunder.]

On all these arguments, with more or less foundation, Charles II. managed
to conclude that he ought to detach himself from France, who was not
helpful enough; and, by deserting us, he excited universal joy amongst
his subjects, who were constantly jealous of us.

Charles Stuart had had children by his mistresses; he had had none by the
Queen, his wife. The presumptive heir to the Crown was the Duke of York,
his Majesty's only brother.

The Duke of York, son-in-law--as I have noticed already--of our good
Chancellor, Lord Hyde, had himself only two daughters, equally beautiful,
who, according to the laws of those islanders, would bear the sceptre in
turn.

Our King, who read in the future, was thinking of marrying these two
princesses conformably with our interests, when the Prince of Orange
crossed the sea, and went formally to ask the hand of the elder of his
uncle.

Informed of this proceeding, the King at once sent M. de Croissy-Colbert
to the Duke of York, to induce him to interfere and refuse his daughter;
but, in royal families, it is always the head who makes and decides
marriages. William of Orange obtained his charming cousin Mary, and
acquired that day the expectation of the Protestant throne, which was his
ambition.

At the news of this marriage, the allies, that is to say, all the King's
enemies, had an outburst of satisfaction, and gave themselves up to
puerile jubilations. The King of Great Britain stood definitely on their
side; he made common cause with them, and soon there appeared i