THE TRUE MAID OF HONOUR. been lent to her by the Countess of Suffolk, and which was worth eighty pounds, had been detached from her dress in the crowd, and was nowhere to be found. Margaret was in great trouble, until the Duke of York, understanding the disastrous accident which had befallen her, sent her a gift, in order that she might make the Countess a present of a jewel to replace the one lost. At the conclusion of the entertainment, while the others were supping, she " slipped like a spirit" to Berkeley House, attended by Evelyn, who had witnessed the masque ; and, falling on her knees, declared passionately and fervently, " Never will I come within this temptation more whilst I breathe ! " Eventually, Margaret did not put in practice her idea of retiring into loneliness and meditation. Love, as well as friendship, had a powerful voice in inducing her to postpone it ; and her heart proved stronger than she had contemplated, for on the 16th of May, 1675, after a lasting attachment of eight years, which neither sickness, nor absence, nor hope deferred could weaken, she was privately married, in her twenty-third year, to Sydney Godolphin, at the Temple Church, by Dr. Lake, one of his Majesty's Chaplains, the only witnesses present being Lady Berkeley and one of Margaret's servants. Her faithful, sincere friend, John Evelyn, was not even informed of this important step taken by his " child." She who had confided to him her most secret thoughts and wishes, and asked his 35
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