The reign came suddenly to an end (1685). Evelyn, one of the
courtiers of the day, tells us in his "Diary" that he was present at
the palace of Whitehall on Sunday morning, the last of January of that
year. There he saw the King sitting in the grand banqueting room,
chatting gayly with three famous court beauties,--his special
favorites,--while a crowd of richly dressed nobles were gathered
around a gambling table heaped with gold. Six days after, as he
expresses it, all was "in the dust."
Charles died a Roman Catholic, his Catholic brother James (S478)
having quietly brought a priest into the King's chamber in time to
hear his confession and grant him absolution. Certainly few English
rulers ever stood in greater need of both.