uty; the charming lady's amorous disposition was speedily
conquered by his gallantry, and nothing prevented her becoming his
mistress save Lady Castlemaine's jealousy.

This, however, proved an insurmountable obstacle; for the countess,
hearing rumours of the pleasures which were enjoyed at my Lord Bristol's
table, insisted on attending the king thither, and soon gave his
gracious majesty an intimation he dared not disregard--that she would
not suffer Miss Brooke as a rival. Margaret Brooke was grievously
disappointed; but the Duke of York beginning his attentions at the point
where his majesty discontinued them, she was soon consoled for loss of
the monarch's affection by the ardour of his brother's love. But a short
time after, probably foreseeing the ambiguous position in which she
stood, she forsook her lover, and accepted a husband in the person of
Sir John Denham.

This worthy knight was a man of parts; inasmuch as he was a soldier,
a poet, and a gamester. At the time of his marriage he had passed his
fiftieth year; moreover, he limped painfully and carried a crutch. His
appearance, indeed, was far from imposing. According to Aubrey, he was
tall, had long legs, and was "incurvelting at his shoulders; his hair
was but thin and flaxen, with a moist curl; his gait slow and rather
astalking; his eye was a kind of light goose-grey, not big, but it had a
strange piercingness, not as to shining and glory, but when he conversed
he looked into your very thoughts." His personal defects, however, were
to a great degree compensated for by his great wealth. Moreover he was
surveyor-general of his majesty's works, had a town house in Scotland
Yard, and a country residence at Waltham Cross in Essex. But there are
some deficiencies for which wealth does not atone, as no doubt Lady
Denham promptly discovered; for, before a year of her married life had
passed, she renewed her intrigue with the Duke of York. His love for her
seemed to have increased a thousandfold since fate had given her to
the possession of another. At royal drawing-rooms he took her aside and
talked to her "in the sight of all the world," and whenever she moved
away from him he followed her like a dog.

Indeed, he made no effort to screen his passion, for not only did
he make love to her in presence of the court, but he visited her at
noonday, attended by his gentlemen, before all the town. Nor did Lady
Denham desire to conceal the honour with which, she consid