Read Royal Sisters: The Story of the Daughters of James II for Free Online Page A

mean it?”
    “But do you not agree? Madam, what do you ask of a man? Did you hear how he rescued his brother? What bravery! My John was telling me about it. He said he had rarely heard of such a feat of bravery. And I understand, too, that the Prince is gracious. His servants love him.”
    “I found him … affable,” said Anne.
    “Madam, dear, you are halfway to being in love with him.”
    “Sometimes I think of dear Mulgrave!”
    “Pah! An adventurer if ever there was one!”
    “Oh, no, Sarah, he loved me truly. Those beautiful verses …”
    “I never thought much of poets. Words mean more to them than deeds. No, I rejoice that in the Prince of Denmark you will have a husband worthy of you. And the more eager you are for the marriage, the more you please your father.”
    “He was very sad about Mary.”
    “And who can wonder? When I compare the Prince of Denmark with that … monster!”
    “Poor, poor Mary! Yet when we were in Holland, Sarah, she seemed happy.”
    “To see you, to escape from Caliban for a while.”
    “How sorry I am for her.”
    “It is no use repining, Madam. Think rather of your joy. You are to have a husband with whom you are already in love …”
    “But am I, Sarah? I am not sure …”
    “You cannot deceive Sarah who knows you so well, Madam. If you are not already in love you are halfway there. And who can be surprised at that! This handsome hero has come across the seas to claim you. I am so happy for you, Madam.”
    “It is going to be a happy marriage, is it not, Sarah?”
    “The happiest at Court, Madam. You know I am always right.”
    That was one thing Anne had learned. Obediently she began to fall in love with her bridegroom, and soon found it difficult to remember what Mulgrave looked like. This was so much more comfortable. George was pleasant, so eager to please; and he was kind, she could see that. Everyone was delighted at the prospect of the marriage. Her uncle wanted it; and so did her father, and when her father took her aside and asked her if she were truly happy and she told him she was, he took her into his embrace and wept over her.
    “I thank God, my dearest daughter,” he told her, “for I could not have borne to see you unhappy as your sister was.”
    After that she felt she owed it to them all to be happy. It was not difficult when she considered George.

    There was no reason why the marriage should be delayed. The day chosen was appropriate, being St. Anne’s Day, and at ten o’clock at night in St. James’s chapel the ceremony took place. The bride was given away by her uncle the King; and afterward there was a brilliant banquet. There was rejoicing in the streets, and the sounds of music and the light from the bonfires penetrated the palace.
    Another Protestant marriage! said the people, who had welcomed the Orange marriage for the same reason. James’s addiction to Catholicism was always a sore point with those who declared they would have no popery in England. Mary and Anne could well be sovereigns of England and the people had no intention of standing mildly aside while they were made into little Catholics. But there was no danger of that. Wise King Charles—always with an eye on the main chance—had decided. Not only had he taken the education of the Princesses out of their father’s hands, but he had found Protestant bridegrooms for them.
    The fact that Marie Thérèse, the Queen of France, had just died, made the marriage doubly welcome. Louis, a widower in need of a wife, made a dangerous situation, for all knew that James would have been delighted to see his daughter the wife of the Catholic King of France.
    But all was well; she was safely married to Protestant George; so they danced with glee around their bonfires and declared the bride to be beautiful and the bridegroom gallant while Anne and her husband sat side by side, eating heartily.
    They had no qualms about each other. They were so much alike; peaceable, comfortable