skerry accepting
the offer, the remedy had its desired effect, and entirely removed every
remembrance of her late mishap.

Whilst these things were passing at the king's court, that of the Duke
of York took a journey on the other side of London; the pretence of this
journey was to visit the county whose name he bore; but love was the
real motive. The duchess, since her elevation, had conducted herself
with such prudence and circumspection, as could not be sufficiently
admired: such were her manners, and such the general estimation in which
she was held, that she appeared to have found out the secret of pleasing
every one; a secret yet more rare than the grandeur to which she had
been raised: but, after having gained universal esteem, she was
desirous of being more particularly beloved; or, more properly speaking,
malicious Cupid assaulted her heart, in spite of the discretion,
prudence, and reason, with which she had fortified it.

In vain had she said to herself a hundred times, that if the duke had
been so kind as to do her justice by falling in love with her, he had
done her too much honour by making her his wife; that with respect to
his inconstant disposition, which estranged him from her, she ought to
bear it with patience, until it pleased heaven to produce a change in
his conduct; that the frailties on his part, which might to her appear
injurious, would never justify in her the least deviation from her duty;
and, as resentment was still less allowable, she ought to endeavour to
regain him by a conduct entirely opposite to his own. In vain was it, as
we have said before, that she had long resisted Love and his emissaries
by the help of these maxims: how solid soever reason, and however
obstinate wisdom and virtue may be, there are yet certain attacks which
tire by their length, and, in the end, subdue both reason and virtue
itself.

The Duchess of York was one of the highest feeders in England: as
this was an unforbidden pleasure she indulged herself in it, as an
indemnification for other self-denials. It was really an edifying sight
to see her at table. The duke, on the contrary, being incessantly in
the hurry of new fancies, exhausted himself by his inconstancy, and was
gradually wasting away; whilst the poor princess, gratifying her good
appetite, grew so fat and plump that it was a blessing to see her. It
is not easy to determine how long things would have continued in this
situation, if Love, who was res