During the ten years from 1661 to 1671 the Duke and Duchess moved, it seems, little from London. Besides the progress already described, made in company with the King and Queen from Bath to Oxford, the pair were once at York in 1665, and this, according to Reresby, seems to have marked the beginning of Henry Sidney’s passion for the Duchess.[[179]] Another time they were at Oxford, and when, like the Court, they fled from the Plague, they took refuge at Rufford in Nottinghamshire, being there entertained by Sir George Savile.[[180]] In return for this piece of hospitality his uncle, William Coventry, begged the Duke to procure a peerage for the host. James referred the matter to his father-in-law, the Lord Chancellor Clarendon, backing, however, the appeal by saying that “Sir George had one of the best fortunes in England, and lived the most like a great man, that he had been very civil to him and his wife in the North, and treated them at his house in a very splendid manner.” Savile afterwards became Marquess of Halifax, having married Dorothy, eldest daughter of Henry, Earl of Sunderland (as already mentioned), who fell at Newbury, and also, of course, of “Sacharissa.” The Duke and Duchess were back at St James’s at the time of the Fire, when the former did yeoman’s service in the endeavour to check the ravages of the terrible conflagration, when old St Paul’s, with its splendid if ruined nave, its beautiful chantries and tombs, and its lofty spire, thundered down in a whirlwind of devouring flame, in company of eighty-nine City churches. No one worked harder in the face of this calamity than the King and his brother, nor showed greater contempt of danger and readiness of resource, and to the Duke we owe the preservation of the Temple Church by his order to blow up the neighbouring houses. To this Evelyn bears testimony, for he says: “It is not indeed imaginable how extraordinary the vigilance of the King and Duke was, even labouring in person, and being present to command, order, reward or encourage workmen.”
[179]. “Calendar of Domestic Papers.” 7th August 1665, York.—Sir William Coventry to Lord Arlington: “The Lord Mayor and Aldermen on horseback, in their habits, who besides the speeches presented the Duke with 100 pieces, and the Duchess with 50.”
[180]. “Court of William III.” E. and M. S. Grew.
A little before this we find Mrs Kate Philips, known in her own day as the “Matchless Orinda,” writing to Lady Temple (whom we know and love as Dorothy Osborne): “I am glad of the news of the Duchess’ recovery, and the other victory you mention at Court.” The recovery is probably from measles, from which Anne suffered about this time.[[181]] The victory is that of Frances Stewart, afterwards Duchess of Richmond, whom Charles II. loved so madly—for a time—over her unpopular rival, Lady Castlemaine. It was a very well known piece of gossip with which the Court was ringing at the moment, but one can hardly fancy it to be particularly welcome nor interesting to Dorothy Temple, being the manner of woman she was. A month later poor Orinda was dead of smallpox, and her poetry, “matchless” as it was thought, was very soon forgotten.[[182]]
[181]. “Diary.” Samuel Pepys. 28th December 1663.
[182]. “Martha, Lady Gifford: Life and Letters, 1664-1722,” edit. by Miss J. E. Longe. “Letter from Mrs Kate Philips under the name of Orinda to Sir Wm. Temple’s lady (Dorothy Osborne), 22nd January, 1664.”
As to Anne’s own household, it is significant that she was said to rule it with decision and vigilance. One of her ladies was lovely Frances Jennings, the elder sister of the famous Sarah, afterwards Duchess of Marlborough, and she, having married first one of the wild Hamiltons,[[183]] became Duchess of Tyrconnel, and was destined in her old age to suffer the stings of poverty and neglect. But early in her career there were love passages with the Marquis de Berni, son of Hugues de Lionne, Foreign Secretary to Louis XIV., and her mistress encouraged the affair, for it seems that “the Duchess, who is generally severe on such things, finds the two so well suited that she is the first to favour them.”[[184]]
[183]. Brother of Anthony, Count Hamilton, the chronicler.
[184]. “A French Ambassador at the Court of Charles II. (Comte de Cominges).” Jusserand.
Another of the ladies was Miss Temple, afterwards Lady Lyttelton, and yet another Lady Denham, whose story is a sad and dark one. She had been a Brooke, and had already attracted the Duke of York when she married Sir John Denham, who discovering the liaison, poisoned his wife, at least, so it was suspected.[[185]]