" In
this note of alarm he forebodes danger to come. A man of his
majesty's character, witty and careless, weak and voluptuous, was
not likely to reconstruct his court, or reclaim it from ways he
loved. Nor was his union calculated to exercise a lasting
impression on him. The affection he bore his wife in the first
weeks of their married life was due to the novelty he found in
her society, together with the absence of temptation in the shape
of his mistress. Constancy to the marriage vow was scarcely to
be expected from a man whose morals had never been shackled by
restraint; yet faithlessness to a bride was scarcely to be
anticipated ere the honeymoon had waned. This was, however, the
unhappy fate which awaited Catherine of Braganza.
It happened early in the month of June, whilst the court was at
Hampton, my Lady Castlemaine, who had remained in town through
illness, gave birth to a second child. The infant was baptized
Charles Palmer, adopted by the king as his own, and as such
subsequently created Duke of Southampton. This event seemed to
renew all his majesty's tenderness towards her. Wearied by the
charm of innocence in the person of his wife, his weak nature
yielded to the attraction of vice in that of his mistress. He,
therefore, frequently left Hampton Court that he might ride to
London, visit the countess, and fritter away some hours in her
presence; being heedless alike of the insult he dealt the queen,
and the scandal he gave the nation.
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