Page:The Queens of England.djvu/516

 466 THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. "Remember!" uttered to Juxon as the monarch delivered to him the jewel of the George, which contained her portrait "under the upper side," expressed with striking pathos the fond tenacity with which Charles, despising life for its own sake, clung to that last ray which shone upon him from her. Anxious to escape the popular tumults in Paris, which aggravated her distress, the widowed queen retired to St. Germain, whence, notwithstanding the great agony she was in, she wrote to Charles the Second, desiring him to repair into France as soon as possible and not to swear any persons of his council till she could speak with him. The first two or three days after their meeting were spent in tears and lamentations for the great alteration that had happened since their last parting, but the queen's grief was soon augmented by the reluctance of the king to follow any advice and by the distance which he observed in his deportment."' It was resolved that Charles should pass over into Scotland, which latter country, disgusted at Cromwell's usurpation, had made offers to the prince, and upon his arrival at Jersey he was immediately proclaimed king. Previous to this event, however, the escape from St. James' of the Duke of York, who had been taken prisoner in his fifteenth year, had been effected under very singular circumstances. We abbreviate the account from the Stuart papers : All things being in readiness, the duke, after supper, with his brother and sister, went to play at hide and seek with the rest of the young people in the house. At this childish sport the duke had accustomed him- self to play for a fortnight together every night, hiding in places so difficult to find that they were half an hour in searching for him, at the end of which time he came out of his own accord. This was a blind for his design, by which, when in earnest, he secured half an hour before suspicion could arise. Upon this occasion he locked up a little dog which used to follow him, and passed by a back door of which he had obtained the key into the park, where he found Bamfield and a footman ready to receive him, who put on him a cloak and a periwig; after which, in female attire, he reached a Dutch vessel, which waited below Gravesend. Meanwhile orders were issued, upon the detection of his flight, to watch the northern roads and those toward Wales ; nor was the pur- suit relinquished till news arrived of his landing in Holland. The two other children, the Princess Elizabeth and the Duke