It happened whilst life thus happily passed, at pleasant full-
tide flow, my Lady Castlemaine, who resided in the same college
with her majesty, gave birth on the 28th of December to another
son, duly baptized George Fitzroy, and subsequently created Duke
of Northumberland. By this time, the plague having subsided in
the capital, and all danger of infection passed away, his majesty
was anxious to reach London, yet loth to leave his mistress, whom
he visited every morning, and to whom he exhibited the uttermost
tenderness. And his tardiness to return becoming displeasing to
the citizens, and they being aware of its cause, it was whispered
in taverns and cried in the streets, "The king cannot go away
till my Lady Castlemaine be ready to come along with him," which
truth was found offensive on reaching the royal ears.
Towards the end of January, 1666, he returned to Whitehall, and a
month later the queen, who had been detained by illness, joined
him. Once more the thread of life was taken up by the court at
the point where it had been broken, and woven into the motley web
of its strange history. Unwearied by time, unsatiated by
familiarity, the king continued his intrigue with the imperious
Castlemaine, and with great longing likewise made love to the
beautiful Stuart. But yet his pursuit of pleasure was not always
attended by happiness; inasmuch as he found himself continually
involved in quarrels with the countess, which in turn covered him
with ridicule in the eyes of his courtiers, and earned him
contempt in the opinions of his subjects.
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