'Madam,' said the king, bowing
respectfully to Theresa, with all that captivating grace of address
for which he was distinguished, 'if every frozen statue were as
lovely and attractive as this, I should forget to wish for their
animation; and become myself a votary of the
"'Queen and huntress, chaste and fair!'
"'Ay,' whispered the Duke of Buckingham, 'even at the perilous risk
of being termed Charles, king and Lunatic.'
"This sobriquet of Diana had passed into a proverb; and such was
Theresa's character for coldness and reserve, that I attributed to
her temper of mind, the evident indifference with which she received
my attentions. Meeting her as I did, either in public assemblies, or
in the antechamber of the Queen among the other ladies in waiting, I
had no opportunity of making myself more particularly acquainted
with her sentiments and character. When I addressed her in the
evening circle, although she readily entered into conversation on
general subjects, and displayed powers of mind of no common order,
yet, if I attempted to introduce any topic, which might lead to a
discussion of our mutual situation, she relapsed into silence. At
times her countenance became so pensive, so touchingly sorrowful,
that I could not help suspecting she nourished some secret and hidden
cause of grief; and once on hinting this opinion to the king, who
frequently in our familiar intercourse rallied me on my passion for
Theresa, and questioned me as to the progress of my suit, he told me
that Miss Marchmont's dejection was generally attributed to her
regret, for the loss of Lady Wriothesly, the kind patroness who had
first recommended her to his protection, and by whose death,
immediately before my return from Holland, she had lost her only
surviving friend.
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