The queen mother, being an ambitious woman, had cherished certain
schemes for extending the power of her family by the respective
marriages of her sons, which the duke's union was, of course,
calculated to curtail. She therefore regarded his wife with the
bitterest disdain. Whenever that woman should be brought into
Whitehall by one door, her majesty declared she would leave it by
another and never enter it again. The marriage was rendered all
the more disagreeable to the queen, because the object of her
son's choice was daughter of the lord chancellor, whose influence
over Charles II. had frequently opposed her plans in the past,
and threatened to prevent their realization in the future. The
monarch, however, paid little attention to his mother's
indignation. He was resolved no disgrace which he could hinder
should fall upon the family of one who had served him with
disinterested loyalty; and, by way of proving his friendship
towards the chancellor on the present occasion, he, before
setting out to meet his mother on her arrival at Dover, presented
him with twenty thousand pounds, and left a signed warrant for
creating him a baron, which he desired the attorney-general to
have ready to pass the seals at his return.
In the meantime a wicked plot, for the purpose of lessening
James's affection for his wife, and ultimately preventing the
acknowledgment of his marriage, was promoted by the chancellor's
enemies and the duke's friends, principal amongst whom were the
Princess of Orange and Sir Charles Berkley, "a fellow of great
wickedness," Sir Charles was his royal highness's most trusted
friend, and was, moreover, devoted to the service of the princess
and her mother.
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