It was again a fair evening, five days later, when, in one of my new
suits, with my new silver-handled sword, I set out on foot to Whitehall
to see the King first and the Duke afterwards, as word had been brought
me from the Chamberlain's office; for I had presented my letters on the
morning after I had come to London.
Those four days had passed busily and merrily enough in company with my
cousins. The first two days I had spent in the shops, and had expended
above forty pounds, with both my cousins to advise me. It would not be
to the purpose to describe all that I bought; but there was a blue suit
I had, that was made very quickly, and that was the one I wore when I
went to see the King, that was very fine. All was of blue; the coat was
square-cut, with deep skirts, and had great laced cuffs that turned up
as high as the elbow, showing the ruffled wristbands of the shirt
beneath; the waistcoat below--in the new fashion--was so hung as to come
down to my knees; and both coat and waistcoat had buttons all the way
down the front, with silver trimming. My stockings--for the brodequins
were out of fashion again now--were of a darker blue, and my shoes of
strong leather, with a great rosette upon each, for buckles were not
usual at this time. Then my cravat was of Flanders lace; and my Cousin
Dorothy showed me how to fasten it so that the ends lay down square in
front; and my hat was round with a blue favour in it upon the left side;
and I wore it with what was called the "Monmouth cock." I carried a long
cane in my hand, with a silver head, and a pair of soft leather gloves,
without cuffs to them. Then, as my own hair was still short, I bought a
couple of dark periwigs of my own colour, and put on, the better to go
to Whitehall in. Besides these things I had three other suits, one very
plain, of grey, and two less plain; a case of pistols, and a second
sword, very plain and strong, in a leather scabbard, with its belt; two
pair of riding-boots, besides other shoes; and two dozen of shirts and
cravats, of which half were plain, without lace.
While we went to and fro on all those businesses, we saw something both
of the town and of the folks. On our way back from Cheapside one day, we
turned aside to see the Monument, with the lying inscription upon it;
and then to see the Cathedral, which was already of a considerable
height. Of the persons of importance we saw one day the Duke of
Buckingham in his coach, drawn by two white horses, with riders before
and behind, pass along towards Whitehall; and a chair went by us one
evening in which, it was said, was the Duchess of Portsmouth (once
Madame de la Querouaille, or Mrs. Carwell); but it was so closely
guarded that I could not see within. Also, we saw my Lord Shaftesbury, a
sly yet proud looking fellow, I thought him, walking with Mr. Pepys, who
fell later under suspicion of being a Catholic, because his servant was
one.
On the Saturday evening we went to take the air in St. James' Park, and
walked by Rosamund's pond; and here we but just missed seeing the King
and Queen; for as we came into it from Charing Cross (where I had seen
for the first time in the public street the Punch-show, which I think
must take its origin from Pontius Pilate) their Majesties rode out--hand
in hand, I heard later--through the Park Gate into the Horse-Guards, and
so to Whitehall, with guards in buff and steel following. There was a
great company of gentlemen and ladies who rode behind, of whom we caught
a sight; but they were too far away for us to recognize any of them. (I
saw, too, the cress-carts come in from Tothill fields.)
On the Sunday morning we went all three together to hear mass sung in
St. James'; and here for the first time I saw Mr. Huddleston, who was of
the congregation, who was in his priest's habit--as my cousin had told
me--for this was allowed to him by Act of Parliament, because he had
saved the King's life after the battle of Worcester. He was a man that
looked like a scholar, but was very brown with the sun, too. We could
not see the Duke, for he was in his closet, with the curtains half
drawn--a tribune, as we should call it in Rome. It was very sweet to me
to hear mass again after my journey; and it was not less sweet to me
that my Cousin Dorothy was beside me; but the crush was so great, of
Protestants who had come to see the ceremonies, as well as of Catholics,
that there was scarcely room even to kneel down at the elevation. On our
way back we saw Prince Rupert, a fat pasty-faced man, driving out in his
coach. He spent all his time in chymical experiments, I was told. As
Sedley said, he had exchanged Naseby for Noseby.
I had been bidden, on the Monday, to present myself first at Mr.
Chiffinch's lodgings that were near the chapel, between the Privy Stairs
and the Palace Stairs; and, as I was before my time, when I came into
the Court, behind the Banqueting Hall, I turned aside to see the Privy
Garden. A fellow in livery, of whom there were half a dozen in sight,
asked me my business very civilly; and when I told him, let me go
through by the Treasury and the King's laboratory, so that I might see
the garden: and indeed it was very well worth seeing. There were sixteen
great beds, set in the rectangle, with paved walks between; there was a
stone vase on a pedestal, or a statue, in the centre of each bed, and a
great sundial in the midst of them all. There were some ladies walking
at the further end, beneath the two rows of trees; and the sight was a
very pretty one, for the sunlight was still on part of the garden and on
the Bowling-Green beyond the trees; and the flowers and the ladies'
dresses, and the high windows that flashed back the light, all conspired
to make what I looked upon very beautiful. The lodgings that looked on
to the Privy Garden and the Bowling-Green were much coveted, I heard
later; and only such personages as Prince Rupert, my Lord Peterborough,
Sir Philip Killigrew, and such like, could get them there.
Mr. Chiffinch's lodgings, when I came to them, were not so fine; for
they looked out upon little courts on both sides, and my Lady
Arlington's lodgings blocked his view to the river. I went up the
stairs, and beat upon the door with my cane: and a voice cried to me to
enter.
Now I had heard enough of Mr. Chiffinch to make me prejudge him; for his
main business, it seemed, was to pander to the King's pleasures; and he
had his rooms so near the river, it was said, that he might more easily
meet those who came by water and take them up to His Majesty's rooms
unobserved: yet when I saw him, I understood that any prejudgement was
unnecessary. For if ever man bore his character in his face it was Mr.
Chiffinch.
He had risen at my knock, and was standing in the light of the window.
He was dressed in a dark suit, very plain, yet of very rich stuff, and
had laid his periwig aside, so that I could see his features. He was a
dark secret-looking man with his eyes set near together, and with a lip
so short that it seemed as if he sneered; he stooped a little too. Yet I
am bound to say that his manner was perfection itself.
"Mr. Chiffinch," I said. And at that he bowed.
"I am Mr. Roger Mallock," I said; "and I was bidden to come here at this
hour."
"I am honoured to meet you, Mr. Mallock," he said. "I have had His
Majesty's instructions very particular in your regard. I am ashamed that
you should find me so unready; but I will not keep you above five
minutes, if you will sit down for a little."
He made haste to set me a chair near the window; and with another
apology or two he went out of a second door. The room in which he left
me was like the suit that he wore--in that it was both plain and rich.
There were three or four chairs with arms; a table, with twisted legs,
on which lay a great heap of papers and a pair of candlesticks: and
there was a tall lightly-carved press, with locks, between the windows.
The walls were plain, with a few good engravings hung upon them. I went
up to examine one, and found it to be a new one, by Faithorne.
Now that I was drawing so near to the King, I found my apprehensions
returning upon me, for half my success, I knew, if not all, turned upon
the manner I first shewed to him. I knew very well that I could bear
myself with sufficient address; but sufficient address was not all that
was needed: I must so act that His Majesty would remember me afterwards,
and with pleasure. Yet how was I to ensure this?
As I was so thinking to myself, Mr. Chiffinch came in again, having,
with marvellous speed, changed his suit into one of brown velvet, with a
great black periwig, from which his sharp face looked out like a ferret
from a hole.
"I must ask your pardon, Mr. Mallock," he said, as I stood up to meet
him, "again and again; but I have scarcely an hour to myself day or
night. Duty treads on the heels of duty all day long. But we have still
time: His Majesty does not expect us till half-past five."
I made the usual compliments and answers, to which he bowed again; and
then, as I thought he would, he began upon what was not his business--at
least I thought not then.
"You are come from Rome, I hear. I trust that His Holiness was in good
health?"
"The reports were excellent," I said, determined not to be taken in this
way.
"You have seen His Holiness lately, no doubt?"
"It was the French and Spanish ambassadors," I said, "who gave me my
letters. A poor gentleman like myself does not see the Holy Father once
in a twelvemonth."
He seemed contented with that; and I think he put me down as something
of a well-bred simpleton, which was precisely what I wished him to
think; for his manner changed a little.
"You have seen His Majesty before, no doubt?"
"I have not been in England for seven years," I said, smiling. "I saw
His Majesty once when I was a lad, as he went to dinner; and I have seen
him once, on Saturday last; at least, I saw the top of his hat from a
hundred yards off."
"And the Duke of York?" he asked.
"I have never seen the Duke of York in my life, to my knowledge," I
said.
Now I saw well enough what he was after. Without a doubt he had a
suspicion that I was an emissary in some way from the Holy Father, or at
least that I was more than I appeared to be; and being one of those men
who desire to know everything, that they may understand, as the saying
is, which way the cat will jump, and how to jump with her, he was
determined to find out all that he could. On my side, therefore, I
assumed the air of a rather stupid gentleman, to bear out better the
character that I had--that I was a mere gentleman from Rome, recommended
by the Catholic ambassadors; and I think that, for the time at anyrate,
he took me so to be; for his manner became less inquisitive.
"We must be going to His Majesty, sir," he said presently, rising; and
then he added as if by chance: "You are a Catholic, Mr. Mallock?"
"Why, yes," I said: for there was no need of any concealment on the
point of my religion.
* * * * *
As we went downstairs and along the passage that led by Sir Francis
Clinton's lodgings, he began to speak of how I was to behave myself to
the King, and how kiss his hand and the rest. I knew very well all these
things, but I listened to him as if I did not, and even put a question
or two; and he answered me very graciously.
"You should be very modest with His Majesty," he said, "if you would
please him. He likes not originals over-much; or, rather, I would
say--(but it must not be repeated)--that he likes to be the only
original of the company."
And when Mr. Chiffinch said that I knew that he was lying to me; for the
very opposite was the truth; and I understood that he still had his
suspicions of me and wished me to fail with the King. But I nodded
wisely, and thanked him.
A couple of Yeomen of the Guard--of which body no man was less than six
feet tall--stood at the foot of the little stairs that led up to the
King's lodgings: and these made no motion to hinder the King's page and
his companion. So English were they that they did not even turn their
eyes as we went through, Mr. Chiffinch preceding me with an apology.
At the door on the landing of the first floor he turned to me again
before he knocked.
"His Majesty will be within the second room," he said. "Will you wait,
Mr. Mallock, please, in this first anteroom, and I will go through. This
is a private reception by His Majesty. There will be no formalities."
He tapped upon both the doors that were one inside the other; and then
led me through. The first chamber was very richly furnished, though
barely. There was a long table with chairs about it; and he led me to
one of these. Then with a nod or two he passed on to a second door,
tapped upon it softly and went through, closing it behind him. I heard a
woman's laugh as he went through, suddenly broken off.
There was, I supposed (and as I learned afterwards to be the case) one
other way at least out of the King's lodgings, through his private
library, where he kept all his clocks and wheels and such-like; for
when, after a minute or two, the door opened again and Mr. Chiffinch
beckoned me in, there was no woman with the King.
It was a great room--His Majesty's closet as it was called--which he
used for such solitary life as he led; and while I was with him, and
afterwards upon other occasions, I saw little by little how it was
furnished. The table in the midst, at which His Majesty wrote, was all
in disorder; it was piled high with papers and books, for he would do
what writing or reading he cared to do by fits and starts. The walls
were hung with panels of tapestry, and tall curtains of brocade hung at
the windows. Between the panels were pictures hung upon the walls--three
or four flower-pictures by Varelst; three pictures of horses and dogs by
Hondius, and a couple of Dutch pictures by Hoogstraaten. Over the
fireplace was a chimney-breast by Gibbons; and the ceiling was all
a-sprawl with gods and goddesses, I suppose by Verrio. In the windows,
which looked out on two sides, over the river and into a little court,
were little tables covered with curious things, for His Majesty
delighted in such ingenuities--Dutch figures in silver, clockwork, and
the like, and a basket of spaniels lay beneath one of the tables. A
second great table stood against the wall on the further side from that
on which I entered, covered with retorts and instruments, and behind it
a press, and near it sat the King. The floor was carpeted with rush
matting, loosely woven, with rugs upon it. But of all these things I saw
little or nothing at the first, for Mr. Chiffinch was gone out behind
me, and I was alone with His Majesty. One of the spaniels had given a
little yelp as I came in; but disposed himself to sleep again.
Now I am not one of those who think that those who are noble by birth
must always be noble by character, though I know that it should be so. I
knew, too, very well that Charles was less than noble in a great number
of ways. His women did what they liked with him; he would spend fortunes
on those who pleased him and did him nothing but injury, and would let
his faithful lovers and servants go starve. He lived always, you would
say, only for the flesh and the pride of the eyes; he was careless and
selfish and ungrateful; in short, he was as dissolute as a man could be,
or, rather, as dissolute as a king could be, and that is much more. Yet
for all this, he was a man of an extraordinary power, if he had cared to
use it. It was said of him that "he could, if he would, but that he
would not"; and of his brother that "he would if he could, but that he
could not"; and I know no better epigram on the two than that. James was
all intention without success; and Charles all success without
intention. And so James at the end lived and died as a saint, though he
was far from being one at this time; and Charles lived and died a
sinner, though, thank God, a penitent one.
Now although I knew all this well enough, and how Charles' private life
stank in the nostrils of God and man, I cannot describe how he affected
me with loyalty and compassion and even a kind of love, in this little
while that I had with him in private, nor how these emotions grew upon
me the more that I knew him.
He was sitting in his great chair, not yet dressed for supper, for his
wristbands were tumbled and turned back, and his huge dark brown periwig
was ever so little awry. He was in a dark suit, with a lace cravat; and
his rosetted shoes were crossed one over the other as he sat. The light
of the window fell full upon him from one side, shewing his swarthy
face, his thin close moustaches, and his heavy eyes under his arched
brows--shewing above all that air of strange and lovable melancholy that
was so marked a trait in those of the Stuart blood. He smiled a little
at me, but did not move, except to put out his hand. I came across the
floor, kneeled and kissed his hand, then, at a motion from him, stood up
again.
"So you are Mr. Roger Mallock," he said. "Welcome to England, Mr. Roger
Mallock. You bring good news of His Holiness, I hope."
"His Holiness does very well, Sir," I said.
"We should all do as well if we were as holy," said the King. "And you
come to look after my soul, I am informed."
(He said this with a kind of gravity that can scarcely be believed.)
"I am no priest, Sir," I said, "if you mean that. I am only a
forerunner, at the best."
"_Vox clamantis in deserto_," said the King. "I hope I shall be no Herod
to cut off your head. But it is very kind of you to come to this
wilderness. And have you seen my brother yet?"
"I am to see his Royal Highness immediately," I said. "I waited upon
Your Majesty first."
"Poor James!" said the King. "He wants looking after, I think. And what
have you come to do in England, Mr. Mallock?"
Now I felt that I was cutting a poor figure at present; and that I must
say something presently, if I could, to make the King remember me
afterwards. It appeared to me that he was trying me, as he tried all
newcomers, to see whether they would be witty or amusing; but, for the
life of me, I could think of nothing to say.
"I am come to put myself wholly at Your Majesty's disposal," I said.
"Come! come! That's better," said Charles. "It is usually the other way
about. _Servus servorum Dei_, you know. And in what manner do you
propose that I should use you?"
"I will clean Your Majesty's shoes, if you will. Or I will run errands
in my own. Or I will sing psalms, or ditties; or I will row in a boat;
or I will play tennis, or fence. I am what is called an accomplished
young gentleman, Sir."
Now I think I put in a shade too many clauses, for I was a little
agitated. But the King's face lightened up very pleasantly.
"But I have plenty of folks who can do all that," he said. "In what are
you distinguished from the rest?"
Then I determined on a bold stroke; for I knew that the King liked such
things, if they were not too bold.
"I am a Jesuit at heart, Sir;" I said. "I desire to do these things, if
Your Majesty wills it so, simply that I may serve His Holiness in
serving Your Majesty."
"Oho!" said Charles; and he gathered his feet under him and looked at me
more closely. I met his eyes fairly and then dropped my own.
"Oho! That is frank enough, Mr. Mallock. You know all about me, I
suppose. You seem very young for such work. How old are you?
Twenty-five?"
"I pass as twenty-five, Sir. But I am only twenty-one!"
"I would that I were!" said Charles earnestly. "And so you are a Jesuit
in disguise--a wolf in sheep's clothing."
"No, Sir. I am a Jesuit at heart only, in that I would do anything in
God's cause. But I am rather a sheep in wolf's clothing. I was a
Benedictine novice till lately."
He seemed not to hear me. He had dropped his chin on his hand, and was
looking at me as if he were thinking of something else.
"So you are come to serve me," he said presently, "in any way that I
will; and you will serve me only that you may serve your master better.
And what wages do you want?"
"None that Your Majesty can give," I said.
"Better and better," said Charles. "Nor place, nor position?"
"Only at Your Majesty's feet."
"And what if I kick you?"
"I will look for the halfpence elsewhere, Sir."
Then the King laughed outright, in the short harsh way he had; and I
knew that I had pleased him. Then he stood up, and I saw that he was
taller than I had thought. He was close upon six feet high.
"Well, Mr. Mallock," he said, "this seems all very pleasant and
satisfactory. You said you would run errands. I suppose you mean to
Rome?"
"To Rome and back, Sir," I said. "Or to anywhere else, except Hell."
"Oh! you draw the line there, do you?"
"No, Sir. It is God Almighty who has drawn it. I am not responsible."
"But you observe God His line?"
"Yes, Sir. At least, I try to."
"We all do that, I suppose. The pity is that we do not succeed more
consistently ... Well, Mr. Mallock, I have nothing for you at present. I
am a great deal too busy. These ladies, you know, demand so much. I
suppose you heard one of them laugh just now?"
"I hear nothing but Your Majesty's commands," I said very meekly.
Charles laughed again and began to walk up and down.
"Well--and there are all these clockwork businesses, and chymical and
the like. And there is so much to eat and drink and see: and there are
the affairs of the kingdom--I had forgot that. Well; I have no time at
present, Mr. Mallock, as you can see for yourself. But I will not forget
you, if I want you. Where do you lodge?"
I named my lodgings in Covent Garden.
"And I have a cousin, Sir," I said, "who has bidden me to his house in
Hare Street. I shall be here or there."
"His name?"
"Thomas Jermyn, Sir."
The King nodded.
"I will remember that," he said. "Well, it may be a long time before I
have anything more to say to His Holiness. 'He that will not when he
may--' You know all about that, I suppose, Mr. Mallock?"
"I know that Your Majesty has the reunion of Christendom at heart," I
said discreetly.
"Yes, yes; I understand," said Charles. "I have received very favourable
accounts of you, sir. And your letters, which are for the public eye,
are perfectly in order. Well; I will remember, Mr. Mallock. Meanwhile
you had best not shew yourself at Court in public too much." (And this
he said very earnestly.)
He put out his hand to be kissed.
"And you will give my compliments to my brother James," he said.
* * * * *
One of the spaniels snored in his sleep as I went out again.