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with a shudder: "Ugh! I almost put that woman's gloves on!" Of course, the Duchess, who, like many healthy persons, had a horror of illness, was probably thinking of the poor Queen's gouty hands, but some of her feeling about the ailment may have passed into her attitude toward the victim.
    "You can be of some assistance to me, my dear," my cousin now continued. "You can be my eyes at court when I am away. Let me know at once if you see anyone gaining undue favor with Her Majesty!"
    This promise I was able to give her with absolute sincerity, and we parted in the friendliest fashion.
    I was soon made aware by the Queen's increased cordiality that the Duchess had in truth spoken highly of me. I believe that my mistress was sufficiently afraid of—or in awe of—the Duchess so that she hesitated to take any new intimate without her sanction. I do not mean to imply by this that the Queen was a weak woman—this memoir, if anything, should prove the contrary—but of two courses of action, one that pleased and one that displeased the Duchess, she preferred the former. She liked peace above all things, and peace with Sarah came at a certain price.
    In our sessions now, when I rubbed my mistress's aching limbs, she would often talk to me about herself: her childhood, her lost infants, her happiness with the Prince. Sometimes this would take the form of a monologue, as it was not always easy for me, busy with my hands, to respond. The Queen liked to emphasize that I was not missing much in the married state; that it was at best a lottery in which she herself had been a rare winner. It was in one of her discourses on this subject that I made the astonishing discovery that she may have been as much a Jacobite as myself!
    "Few of the Stuarts were happy in wedlock, Hill. My sister thought she was, but it was only at the price of giving in to her husband in everything, including letting him run her kingdom for her. And as for my poor stepmother, Mary of Modena, what a time she had with my unfaithful father! Even though she was young enough to be his daughter, and radiantly beautiful, too. When she was first told that she was to wed the heir presumptive to the throne of England, do you know what she said? She asked: 'Where is England?' That was how the Italians educated their princesses! Well, she knows where England is now, to her sorrow, poor dear, looking across the stormy Channel from her exile. I am no hypocrite, Hill, when I tell you that my heart sometimes smites me to recall what my sister and I did to King James and his wife. Maybe that is why neither of us had a child who lived. Maybe it is God's hand. Don't marry, Hill, if you can avoid it!"
    "I can't say that I'm overwhelmed with offers, ma'am."
    "Stay with me, child. I'll look after you."
    I allowed myself a sentimental gesture at this, for I was becoming very fond of my mistress. I silently kissed her hand.
    I should not give the impression that Queen Anne was always indoors. She loved to hunt, not on horseback, which, with her figure and ailments would have been impossible, but wedged securely into a specially constructed chaise with two enormous wheels and a fast horse whose reins she handled herself. In this she could follow the hunt across country with remarkable speed, to the great concern of the outriders that tried to keep apace with her. She was very proud of this accomplishment, and when her ladies and bedchamberwomen gathered on the terrace at Windsor to watch her departure, she would turn to wave her whip at us.
    On the day that I saw her scan the row of faces on the parapet and smile when she recognized mine, I knew that my favor was special.

4

    I
had observed Mr. Robert Harley, one of the two Secretaries of State, as he went to and from the Queen's audience chamber. He was reputed to be a master politician and had been Speaker of the House of Commons, a zealous Tory who nonetheless sought accommodation with the Whigs. But my real reason for noting