“Anne Hyde.”[[46]]
[46]. Clarendon State Papers, MS. (Bodleian).
“Hage,
“November 3.
“My Lord,—I have received yours of the 13th and am very glad the King is at the Frontiers. I pray God this change in England may worke a good one for his Majesty, and give him cause quickly to come backe that wee might once againe hope to meett in England; her Highness carries the Prince to-morrow to Leyden which is the cause I write this to-day and by the Grace of God wee shall without faile goe sometime the next weeke to Breda where I shall expect your Lordsps and my Mother’s commands since you will have it soe, I will believe I am obliged to Monsieur d’Heenvliet though I confess I cannot see how he could avoyd speakeing after you desired him and the proffession he makes and I am sure he deed but barely speake and I must beleeve that more is in his power. I humbly beg my Mother’s and your blessing upon my Lord your Lordsps most dutifull and obedient daughter,
“Anne Hyde.”[[47]]
[47]. Clarendon State Papers, MS. (Bodleian).
The prince mentioned in these two letters is of course Mary’s only son William, destined afterwards to be King of England, but at this time a little boy.
And through these years from 1656 to 1659 Anne was keeping her secret well. Whether the Duke of York had arranged any means of communication or not, enough had been said at Paris. Love can live on a very small modicum of hope, and Anne’s nature may well have been of the stuff which is “wax to receive and marble to retain.”[[48]]
[48]. It is possible that her mother had some inkling of the state of affairs, and the uneasy consciousness of this may have prompted her silence as to her daughter in her own correspondence.