MARGARET GODOLPHIN, such confidence in' her charms, and was so credulous of their effect, that she felt quite secure of a triumph, appeared at the masquerade, " more yellow than saffron," her flaxen tresses adorned with the ribbons, and her hands covered with the gloves, to the almost irrepressible delight of wicked Miss Hamil- ton ; but to Henrietta's mortification, the young nobleman, whom she had supposed had selected this means of ascertaining his fate, took no more notice of her than he did of Miss Price, though fortunately the jest went no farther. Margaret, meanwhile, still a child, made such advances in her course of piety that when, at the age of eleven, her good mother brought her to be confirmed by Dr. Gunning, the Lord Bishop of Ely, that prelate was so surprised at the clear under- standing of her religious responsibilities displayed by her, that he at once allowed her to be admitted to participate in the Holy Sacrament. From that hour, Margaret purposed devoting herself to a life of undeviating duty ; she laid down, young as she was, a fixed method of religious observance, and even set apart certain days for abstinence and self-denial. She was just thirteen, when in 1665, the most terrible visitation of the Plague which had yet devastated London broke out, driving even the Court in trepidation from Whitehall. All who could escape, fled from the capital before the fatal red cross began to appear on the doors ; and Mrs. Blagge took refuge with her daughter Margaret in 10
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