less notable than my
Lord Rochester. By turns he played such diverse parts in life's
strange comedy as that of a spendthrift and a miser, a profligate and
a philosopher, a statesman who sought the ruin of his country, and a
courtier who pandered to the pleasures of his king. But inasmuch as this
history is concerned with the social rather than the political life of
those mentioned in its pages, place must be given to such adventures as
were connected with the court and courtiers. Buckingham's were chiefly
concerned with his intrigues, which, alas! were many and strange; for
though his wife was loving and virtuous, she was likewise lean and
brown, and wholly incapable of controlling his erring fancies. Perhaps
it was knowledge of her lack of comeliness which helped her to bear
the burden of his follies; for according to Madame Dunois, though the
duchess knew he was continually engaged in amours, she, by virtue of a
patience uncommon to her sex, forbore mentioning the subject to him,
and "had complaisance enough to entertain his mistresses, and even lodge
them in her house, all which she suffered because she loved him."

The most remarkable of his intrigues was that which connected his name
with the Countess of Shrewsbury. Her ladyship, was daughter of the
second Earl of Cardigan, and wife of the eleventh Earl of Shrewsbury.
She was married a year previous to the restoration, and upon the
establishment of the court at Whitehall had become one of its most
distinguished beauties. Nor was she less famed for the loveliness of her
person than for the generosity of her disposition; inasmuch as none
who professed themselves desirous of her affection were ever allowed to
languish in despair. She therefore had many admirers, some of whom were
destined to suffer for the distinction her friendship conferred.

Now one of the first to gain her attachment was the young Earl of Arran,
the grace of whose bearing and ardour of whose character were alike
notable to the court. The verses he sung her to an accompaniment of his
guitar, and the glances he gave her indicative of his passion, might
have melted a heart less cold than hers. Accordingly they gained him
a friendship which, by reason of her vast benevolence, many were
subsequently destined to share. Now it chanced that the little Jermyn,
who had already succeeded in winning the affections of such notable
women as the poor Princess of Orange and my Lady Castlemaine, and
had besides