Buckingham fumed and
fretted, was insolent to the Spanish ministers, and sought as earnestly
to get Charles out of Madrid as he had done to get him there, and less
successfully. But the love-stricken prince had become impracticable. His
fancy deepened as the days passed by. Such was the ardor of his passion,
that on one day in May he broke headlong through the rigid wall of
Spanish etiquette, by leaping into the garden in which the lady of his
love was walking, and addressing her in words of passion. The startled
girl shrieked and fled, and Charles was with difficulty hindered from
following her.
Only one end could come of all this. Spain and the pope had the game in
their own hands. Charles had fairly given himself over to them, and his
ardent passion for the lady weakened all his powers of resistance. King
James was a slave to his son, and incapable of refusing him anything.
The end of it all was that the English king agreed that all persecution
of Catholics in England should come to an end, without a thought as to
what the parliament might say to this hasty promise, and Charles signed
papers assenting to all the Spanish demands, excepting that he should
himself become a Catholic.
The year wore wearily on till August was reached.
Pages:
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281