These finished, he set himself to write both to Charles of England, with the object of detaching him from the French Alliance, and to Sir William Temple.
These letters, that he composed carefully in English, occupied him a considerable time.
When he at length sealed them it was past midnight.
He gave a half glance at the clock, coughed, and leant back wearily in his chair.
It was absolutely silent; a slight but sweet breeze filled the room; the chimes of the Groote Kerk rang clearly with an iron clang into the night, breaking the stillness harshly. William snuffed the candles and began to sort his papers.
They were already carefully arranged and marked.
Some he burnt in the candle, some he put in his pocket; the rest he locked away.
From an inner drawer he took a roll of maps and a bundle of notes and spread them out before him on the polished surface of the desk.
They were plans of the Yssel and Rhine, and diagrams of the forts protecting these rivers. Referring to the notes, he wrote under each fort the number of men, of guns, and the nature of the defences. In some cases he made calculations and drawings of scarps and counterscarps, half moons and bastions.
He dwelt a long time over Maestricht, the key of the entrance to the Netherlands, and wrote across the plan that the garrison must be strengthened.