The Great Roxhythe
By Georgette Heyer.
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“Under which King, Bezonian?”
King Henry IV Part II
To
my mother and father.
The Great Roxhythe
Book I
The Ways Run Parallel
I
The King and His Favourite
A large gentleman was strolling from group to group in one of the great galleries of Whitehall. He was very exquisite, this gentleman, adorned with all the coloured silks, velvets and furbelows which that Year of Grace, 1668, demanded. A great peruke was on his head, with flowing, dark curls that reached over his breast and below his shoulders. He carried his plumed hat in his hand, and at times he made great play with it, as if to point some witty remark. At other times he opened his jewelled comfit-box with a delicate flick of his wrist, and selected, with some care, a tinted sweetmeat. Once or twice he swept a low bow to some lady of his acquaintance, but for the most part he was occupied with the courtiers who were present, always lazily smiling, and with his brown eyes bored and expressionless. His height, and the breadth of his shoulders made him easily distinguishable in the gay throng, so that those who wished to speak to him soon found where he was standing, and made their way towards him. He was the Most Noble the Marquis of Roxhythe, the King’s favourite and the ladies’ darling, and his name was on many lips.
No longer in his first youth, my lord had nothing to learn in the way of polish. He was the perfect courtier, combining grace and insolence even more successfully than his Grace of Buckingham. His brow was incomparable; his air French; his wit spicy; his tailoring beyond words, remarkable. Even in those days of splendour and unlimited extravagance he was said to be fabulously wealthy.
All this was enough to gain him popularity, but yet another asset was his. This was the ear of the King.
For no one did Charles cherish quite so warm a regard. He had never been heard to speak harshly to the favourite, and the favourite had never been heard to take a liberty with his good-natured master. He had been with Charles on his travels; had fought at his side at Worcester, had entered London in his train in 1660, and was now one of the most influential men in town.
He was something of an enigma. As indolent and as licentious as his royal master, possessing strong personal magnetism, many engaging qualities, and excellent abilities, he never interested himself in the affairs of the moment nor exercised his influence either for his own ends or for those of some “party.” He belonged to none of the factions; he was no statesman; his lazy unconcern was widely known. He never plotted, and never worried himself over the affairs of the State. He had few friends, and some enemies. The King’s brother, the Duke of York, openly disliked him for the influence he held over Charles; influence that his Grace
