"Madame, 'tis a charming welcome. We were driving to my lord Pembroke's at Wilton Park, and were besnowed. 'Tis indeed a delightful transformation."
He patted the children's cheeks playfully. Lord Godolphin, who was evidently ill, had already thrown himself wearily into a chair.
"Well, my little man, what is your name?" asked Marlborough of the boy.
"Eustace Berkeley, sir."
"A pretty name, egad. And what would you like to be when you are a man, eh?"
"A soldier, and wear a red coat, and a sword, and fight for the Queen."
"A proper answer, indeed. Well, if you grow strong, and do what your father and mother tell you, you may be a soldier one day, and perhaps—who knows?—a great man."
"I do not want to be a great man."
"Why not, my boy?"
"Faver says people are not kind to great men, and the Queen likes somebody else better, and sends them away."