dit of the Whigs at Court, by daily
representing to Queen Anne the disquieting influence of their chief,
Marlborough--master, as he was, of the parliament, the army, the
ministry, the court,--more sovereign, in fact, than the Queen herself;
and she recalled to mind that last dismissal of the Tories, so rudely
and imperiously dictated by the Duchess. The Queen, moved even to terror
by such advice, drew closer by degrees to her new confidante, and
shortly manifested towards her a favour which the Duchess of Marlborough
was the first to perceive. But instead of seeking to revive a friendship
still endeared to the Queen, the Duchess complained sharply of it being
shared. At the same time she heaped every species of contempt, sarcasm,
and insult upon Mrs. Masham, spread the vilest calumnies about her, and
then, perceiving the inutility of her efforts, directed the current of
her wrath against the throne. In the month of August, 1708, during a
thanksgiving service at St. Paul's on the occasion of the battle of
Oudenarde, Anne found that she had not put on her diamonds, and blamed
the Duchess for the omission, it belonging to her duty as Mistress of
the Robes. The quondam favourite made her Majesty a haughty reply; and
Anne, hurt at it, repeated her reproaches with greater warmth. The
Duchess, furious, imposed silence upon her royal mistress. "I don't ask
you for an answer," she exclaimed loud enough to be heard by the court
and congregation, "don't answer me." The Queen remained silent, dreading
further scandal, but she did not forget that day's incident.[45]

[45] The extent of her insolence towards the Queen on this occasion
is scarcely conceivable. "The Duchess gave her her gloves to hold,"
relates Walpole; "and, on taking them back, suddenly turned away her
head, as though the breath of her royal mistress had imparted a
disagreeable odour."

A year afterwards, during the autumn of 1709, another altercation took
place still more deplorable. Anne was in the habit of allowing a bottle
of wine to be daily carried to one of her laundrymaids who was ailing,
without previously asking leave of the Mistress of the Robes. This
coming to the knowledge of the Duchess, she ran after the Queen one day
as Anne was proceeding on her charitable errand, reproached her for
having usurped her functions, and behaved with such violence that the
lackeys at the bottom of the stairs could overhear what she said.
Indignant at