He had lost the best wife he could have had; she was all that he had needed in a wife; and he had never appreciated that when she was here with him. He had never thought of what he would do without her; in fact he had never believed he would have to be without her. He had been the delicate one, he had been the invalid.
But now she had gone. Mary, whom he had never quite understood.
Oh, there was the subtlety of his emotion. She had wanted to save his soul and that was the reason why she had left this last letter. But why had she thought fit to write to the Archbishop of Canterbury on this very private matter? Would it not have been enough to write to him? Now he was wondering about her motives as he constantly had during her lifetime, and he realized that he could never be sure of Mary—no more in death than in life. Perhaps she had believed that if she had not sent him the letter through the Archbishop he would not have taken it seriously. Now the Archbishop would remonstrate with him, for that was what Mary had asked him to do.
It was surprising that now he must be unsure of her, even as he had in life.
He touched his cheek and it was wet. He, cold stern William, was weeping. He wanted her back with him; there were so many questions he wanted to ask her. He wanted to know what was going on in her mind. Suddenly a sense of desolation swept over him. He understood that he had loved Mary; and he had lost her: he would never be able to tell her that he had loved her—in his way. Why had he not, when she was alive? Perhaps he had not known it.
He shut himself in his closet and gave orders that he was not to be disturbed. He opened a drawer and took out a lock of her hair. She had given it to him before one of his departures in what he had considered to be an excess of unnecessary sentimentality, and he had thrust it into this drawer, exasperated by her action.
Now he took it out and looked at it. It was beautiful hair, and he wished that he had appreciated it during her lifetime.
How odd that he felt no resentment toward her for writing that letter to him and worse still writing to the Archbishop. He would never feel resentment toward her again, and wished with all his heart that she were with him now.
He made a bracelet of the hair and tied it about his arm with a piece of black ribbon.
No one would see it; only he would know it was there; but he would wear it, in memory of her, until he died.
There was someone at the door of his cabinet. He cried out angrily: “Did I not say I did not wish to be disturbed?”
“The King will see me.”
He recognized the voice of the Archbishop and for the second time was too taken aback in the presence of this man to assert himself. The Archbishop shut the door and faced him.
“I see,” he said, “that Your Majesty suffers remorse. I come now to ask you for the promise as Her Majesty wished me to.”
“Promise?” demanded William.
“The promise that you will not see Elizabeth Villiers again.”
William was silent. The Archbishop had found him in the midst of his remorse; there were even traces of tears on his cheeks. Perhaps Tenison knew that what he felt today he would not feel next week: and that this was the time to complete the commission left to him by the dead Queen.
“It was her dying wish,” went on the Archbishop. “All her thoughts were for you. She died in fear that as an adulterer you would never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Perhaps she is watching us now, waiting, praying for you to give the answer she wants.”
William was choked by emotions. It seemed to him that he could never miss anyone as he missed Mary. He longed for her meekness, her tender docility—all that he had lost.
“She is watching us,” said Tenison. “Do you not sense her near?”
William murmured: “I promise. Please leave me now.”
The Archbishop, smiling serenely, left him.
William sat down and covered his face with his hands.
Elizabeth Villiers was alarmed. It was long since she had seen her lover. There was so much to discuss; she had news for him of how the Queen’s death was affecting the Princess Anne’s household. But he did not come.
He would though, she was sure of it. He could not do without her. It might be that, knowing they were spied on he did not want to give his enemies the scandal they were hoping for.
It was only a matter of waiting, Elizabeth assured herself.
There was excitement in Berkeley House. Sarah had dismissed everyone so that she could have a private talk with Anne before she left.
This was a change in their fortunes, she assured her friend.
“His Majesty will graciously see you. He has changed his tune a little. And that does not surprise me, for I can tell you this, Mrs. Morley, the people are not so fond of William on his own as they were when your sister was Queen. They ask themselves what right he has to assume the crown. And what right has he? It is you, Mrs. Morley, who should be wearing it. You should be thinking of riding to your coronation instead of being carried in your chair to wait on Caliban!”
“It is true enough, Mrs. Freeman; but my sister would not have wished it so.”
“Oh, she was bemused and bewildered by that Dutch Abortion.”
“How I wish that we had been good friends! I was sitting here remembering, dear Mrs. Freeman, when we were little girls. I could not bear her out of my sight. I always wanted to do what she did, wear what she wore … I loved her, I think, more than anyone in my life at that time.”
“Children at play!” said Sarah sharply. “Well, now she is dead and gone.”
“Alas! I would I could have her with me for a while so that I could mend our quarrel.”
“You have another to consider, Mrs. Morley, and therefore little time to waste on regrets for the past. What of the young Duke of Gloucester. You must make sure of his future.”
“My precious boy! How right you are, Mrs. Freeman, as usual.”
“And,” went on Sarah, “when you talk to Caliban, you must make sure that he does not forget that he cannot thrust your son from his position.”
“He wouldn’t dare.”
“Caliban would dare anything, I do assure you. What if he married again? What if he had a son? Ah, Mrs. Morley, I can see that he would be very anxious then to make sure your boy did not have the throne.”
Anne’s lethargy dropped from her. “There would be a revolution if he ever attempted to take my boy’s rights from him.”
“Remember that and make sure he understands it. You need friends, Mrs. Morley, as you never did. And those who would be the best friends to you are languishing in exile. Banished from Court. It is something you can remedy now, I’ll warrant.”
“You are thinking of Mr. Freeman.”
“He is the best friend Mrs. Morley ever had, and if he were brought back to Court would be ready to defend your rights and those of the young Duke with all his skill, which I assure you, Mrs. Morley, is formidable; and it is for this reason that Dutch William has kept him from you. Ask him now to bring him back. Now is the time for you to ask favors. He wishes to show the people he is on good terms with you. Bring Mr. Freeman back and then Mrs. Morley will have two Freemans to protect her from whatever ill wind is likely to harm her and the precious little Duke.”
“My dear good friends!” murmured Anne.
“And here is Mrs. Morley’s chair.”
“I need it. I do not think I could walk a step.”