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please his host and hostess better than by eating heartily of what they set before him.
"Do you ever go up to London?" he asked in the course of the dinner.
"Oh, yes," answered the host; "I sometimes go there to buy whalebones for the corsets I manufacture."
When the prince took his leave he gave John Duddlestone a card, and told him "the next time he went to London to take his wife along, and to be sure to bring her to court," adding "that if he would present that card at Windsor Castle it would insure his admission."
Sure enough, when, a few weeks later, a supply of whalebone was needed, John actually took his good wife behind him on a pack-horse, and journeyed to London. Armed with the prince's card, he presented himself at Windsor Castle, was received by Prince George, and with his wife clinging to his arm, introduced into the presence of Queen Anne. Only a few words were necessary to recall to her majesty the circumstance Prince George had related on his return from Bristol. She cordially thanked the good-hearted couple for their hospitality to her husband, and, in return, invited them to dine with her, adding that the court-dresses which were required for the occasion, would be furnished by the officers of her household; but the visitors were required to choose their own material. Both selected purple velvet. The suits were accordingly made, and worn at the royal dinner party, when the queen presented the Duddlestone pair "as the most loyal persons in the whole city of Bristol."
After dinner her majesty surprised John Duddlestone by requesting him to kneel down before her. He obeyed, when taking a sword and laying it gently on his head, she said: "Stand up, Sir John."
Having knighted him, Queen Anne offered him a government position, or a sum of money, whichever he preferred, but he refused both, saying: "Wife and I want nothing, and we have fifty pounds of our savings out at interest, besides, judging from the number of people about your majesty's house, your expenses must be heavy enough." This honest reply pleased the queen so much that she presented the newly-constituted Lady Duddlestone with the gold watch that hung at her side. This mark of royal favor so delighted the good dame that whenever she appeared in the streets of her native town afterwards the watch was sure to be seen hanging from her blue apron-string.
Although Queen Anne could not forget nor forgive the insulting remarks about herself that she had heard from the lips of Lady Marlborough, she did not find it easy to steel her heart against a woman whom she had loved for thirty years. There is no doubt that she had fully determined to part with both her and her husband, but meanwhile intended that the favorite should observe no change. The dearly-beloved "Mrs. Freeman" should have all the advantages her ambition and avarice had sought, and after both she and her husband had obtained all they desired of wealth and title they should be dismissed.
The queen went to St. James's Palace in time to open parliament, leaving Lady Marlborough at Windsor, because she did not desire her attendance at the grand state visit to the city. But her majesty wrote "Dear Mrs. Freeman" in the most caressing terms, and in one of her letters she said: "It is very sad for your poor, unfortunate, faithful Morley to think that she has so very little in her power to show you how sensible she is of all Lord Marlborough's kindness, especially when he deserves all that a rich crown can give; but since there is nothing else at this time, I hope you will give me leave, as soon as he comes, to make him a duke." Lady Marlborough was not so pleased at this proposition as Queen Anne supposed she would be; the dukedom was all very fine, but no provision for the support of the title was mentioned, and the Marlboroughs were by no means rich. The letter dropped from the lady's hand as though she had read news of a death, but the lord was more grateful; for the new distinction increased the respect that the German princes in Flanders entertained for him, and, as he was commander-in-chief of the allied forces, it was important that he should be esteemed. He had not yet achieved the military glory that has made him one of the heroes of history.