THE TRUE MAID OF HONOUR. and Evelyn having at her request had her books and dresses removed from Berkeley House to the house of a relative of hers in Covent Garden, she repaired thither, and immediately on her arrival in London her good friend waited on her, to give her welcome. She now made no concealment of her marriage ; and indeed her grief and regret for having prevaricated with her old friend were so intense, that he was obliged to tenderly check their utterance. He heartily forgave her, and sought in every way to promote her happiness and comfort. He began, in September, 1677, to superintend the building of a house for her and her husband, in ScotlandYard, which he fitted up and furnished in a most elegant style, and about which he gives us some odd details in his Diary. In March, 1678, she removed to her new house, and established herself as a discreet and economical matron, acquitting herself to admiration in her new position. She now felt very happy, as may be judged from a passage in one of her letters to her friend Evelyn, in which she says : -" Lord, when I this day considered my happiness, in having so per- fect health of body, cheerfulness of mind, no dis- turbance from without, nor grief within, my time my own, my house quiet and pretty, all manner of convenience for serving God, in public and pri- vate, how happy in my friends, husband, relations, servants, and none to wait or attend on, but my dear and beloved God, from whom I receive all this, 39
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