Thus
much I say in anticipation. In the end he gained the battle with himself,
though his victory won him the king's hatred, put his life in jeopardy,
and brought him misfortune such as he had never before known.
Soon after the foregoing conversation, George went to Paris and remained
a few days with King Louis, whom he had known since early youth. His evil
star brought him back to London the day before Frances left Sundridge,
though, he knew nothing of her departure. I did not know of his return,
nor did I know of his remote connection with the terrible events
attending her arrival till long after they happened.
* * * * *
While Frances, Roger, and the fat horses were struggling through the mud,
the darkness, and the rain, a band of congenial spirits were gathered
about the huge fireplace in the taproom of the Leg Tavern in King Street,
Westminster, a stone's throw from Whitehall Palace. There was my Lord
Berkeley, the king's especial crony, who possessed all his royal master's
vices without any of his Majesty's meagre virtues. He imitated the king
in dress, manner, cut of beard, and even in the use of Charles's favorite
oath, "Odds fish!" an expletive too inane even to be wicked, being a
distortion of the words "God's flesh." There was young Crofts, the
king's acknowledged son, Duke of Monmouth by grace of his mother's
frailties. He was a living example of the doctrine of total depravity
in what purported to be a man.
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