nicknamed “Old Est-il possible.”
Mary was so happy, for she told Anne that she looked upon the baby as her adopted son; and Anne at this time was ready to share him. It was so pleasant to be on easy terms with Mary. She even found William tolerable.
As for Mrs. Pack, she was to be treated like a Queen. Nothing anyone could do would be too much for her. The Queen and the Princess could not express their gratitude sufficiently and declared they would never forget what they owed the young Quakeress.
Mrs. Pack cared nothing for rank and she deemed the baby the only person of importance in the nursery; therefore his nurse came before any lady-in-waiting.
It seemed as though there would be trouble when she ordered Sarah away from the baby’s cradle.
“If I wish to take up the baby, I shall,” said Sarah, her eyes glinting.
“You’ll do no such thing,” declared Mrs. Pack. “I think, nurse, you forget yourself.”
“It’s you who are forgetting that that child is in my charge and in my charge he shall remain.”
“My good woman, because you have fed the Duke of Gloucester you imagine yourself of some importance at Court.”
“Since what they wanted was this child’s life and I gave it to them,
“Insolence!” cried Sarah.
“You can use your tongue the way you fancy, but keep your hands off my baby.”
“I shall report your conduct to the Princess.”
“Do what you like; it means nothing to me.”
Sarah looked down at the baby and for a moment it seemed as though the two women were going to have a tussle over him. Sarah thought better of that and instead went to find Anne.
“Mrs. Morley,” she cried, “that nurse is an intolerable creature.”
“You mean our good Mrs. Pack?”
“Good Mrs. Pack! I verily believe she imagines herself worthy to be
“I can never be grateful enough to her; nor can Mr. Morley. He was recalling only the other night how sickly our little darling was and saying …”
“Est-il possible? I know. But really she is nothing but a wet nurse. We could have found one of those at any time.”
“But we couldn’t. We tried nurses and none was any good until Mrs. Pack came.”
“The Prince will soon be old enough to do without her.”
“Mr. Morley and I should be afraid to let her go. We feel she is a sort of talisman.”
“She has been very insolent to me.”
“To my dear Mrs. Freeman? Oh, I am sorry. But remember, she is not exactly a well-bred lady. She is brusque with the Queen who forgives her all because of what she has done for our little darling. And to me also … and to Mr. Morley.”
“I find it not easy to forgive slights to my dear Mrs. Morley.”
Anne smiled. “Have one of these sweetmeats, dear Mrs. Freeman. They are especially sweet. I must send for some more. Now sit down and forget about Mrs. Pack. Tell me something
So she was weary of accusations against that woman. In fact she was on that woman’s side … against Sarah.
And what could Sarah do about it? It was clear that however much she schemed against Mrs. Pack she would never get her removed because the Queen and Anne believed that the child still needed her.
Sarah Churchill, Countess of Marlborough, insulted by a wet nurse!
And that was not all. The sisters were together again. “Dear Anne, how is my little darling today? I could not rest until I had seen him.”
“Dear Mary, I am sure he knows you. See how he is smiling?”
Bah!
“Now that you have given them the heir to the throne your allowance should be increased,” said Sarah firmly.
“Oh?” murmured Anne.
“It is disgraceful. Here you are at Hampton—dependent on the King and Queen. Should you not have your own establishment? Yet you are asked to live on a
Anne was not listening; she was dreamily reaching for one of the sweetmeats and thinking of going into the nursery and wondering if Mrs. Pack would allow her to hold the Duke of Gloucester for half an hour.
Sarah ground her teeth in anger.
One must be patient, she supposed, but it should not go on.
