The Queen's Favourites aka Courting Her Highness (v5) by Jean Plaidy Read Free Book Online Page B

little while, for, Mrs. Freeman, he is so quick. Then he said: ‘I invented it myself.’ You see, because he thought to save someone from trouble. Was there ever such a boy?”
    Sarah said: “He spends too much time with that tutor and Lewis Jenkins. He should be with boys nearer his own age, nearer his own rank.”
    “I have often thought of that, Mrs. Freeman; but he loves his soldiers and I am not sure where he has recruited them from. If any boy wants to join his army and is what he calls a good soldier then he accepts him. You cannot tell my boy what he ought to do.” Anne smiled fondly. “He always has his answer and such a one to confound you.”
    To confound you , thought Sarah, and your stupid old husband, for both of you are a pair of doting fools where that boy is concerned; but if he were my boy I should have something to say!
    “He reminds me so much of my young John,” said Sarah.
    Anne smiled, ready for a cosy chat about their boys.
    “My John would like to be a soldier. He talks constantly of the Army.”
    “Then they are a pair!”
    “I often think they ought to be together.”
    “My dear Mrs. Freeman, what could be more delightful?”
    “And as His Highness now has a household of his own, I was wondering whether my boy might have a place in it. Master of Horse or some such post.”
    “But it is an excellent idea. Of course we must arrange it. There is nothing I should like better.”
    “My John is a little older than the Duke. He is twelve now.”
    “But my dear Mrs. Freeman my boy is old beyond his years. You would believe he was twelve to hear him talk.”
    Sarah was triumphant. Her dear Marl back at Court not only Governor to Gloucester but back in the Army and in the Privy Council, and her son with his first Court post—Master of Horse in the newly formed household of the Duke of Gloucester.

    Henrietta was to marry Francis Godolphin at the beginning of the next year. Sarah was delighted; everything was working out as she had planned. Now she needed a husband for Anne and she must select with the greatest care; for she had determined on a grand triumvirate which could stand astride the country—a powerful triangle with Marlborough at the apex. Godolphin was an excellent beginning; now she must consider the next move very carefully.
    The Earl was as pleased as she was, and his joy was increased because Henrietta was happy. There was one part of the affair which caused him a little disquiet and that was the fact that weddings were expensive, and although he agreed with Sarah that it was an excellent thing to marry into the Godolphin family, Sidney Godolphin, being an habitual gambler would not be able to take his full share in the expenses of the wedding. Spending money had always been painful to John Churchill; as a child his parents had been constantly struggling against poverty and they had been dependent on their wealthy relations; afterwards as a page at Court he had been obliged to live among rich people and this had made him acutely aware of his own poverty; he had determined then that once he had a chance to lay his hands on a little money he would take care not easily to be parted from it. When Barbara Castlemaine had been so enchanted with his powers as a lover that she had bestowed on him a gift of five thousand pounds he had been able to overcome the humiliation of accepting this in the contemplation that it was the beginning of the fortune he intended to make. One of the reasons why he and Sarah were so devoted was because it was natural for a young man in his position and of his nature to seek a wealthy marriage; when he had met Sarah he had fallen so deeply in love that he had been ready to waive the fact that she was penniless; this, in his case, showed so clearly the strength of his devotion that all were astonished. It was something Sarah would always remember; and so would he. She herself had desired a brilliant marriage and John had at that time to prove his genius.