They agreed, that her taking
the '_fiere_ turn' would ruin her with her royal consort; Sir Robert
adding, that if he had a mind to flatter her into her ruin, he might
talk to her as if she were twenty-five, and try to make her imagine that
she could bring the king back by the apprehension of losing her
affection. He said it was now too late in her life to try new methods;
she must persist in the soothing, coaxing, submissive arts which had
been practised with success, and even press his majesty to bring this
woman to England! 'He taught her,' says Lord Hervey, 'this hard lesson
till she _wept_.' Nevertheless, the queen expressed her gratitude to the
minister for his advice. 'My lord,' said Walpole to Hervey, 'she laid
her thanks on me so thick that I found I had gone too far, for I am
never so much afraid of her rebukes as of her commendations.'
Such was the state of affairs between this singular couple.
Nevertheless, the queen, not from attachment to the king, but from the
horror she had of her son's reigning, felt such fears of the prince's
succeeding to the throne as she could hardly express. He would, she was
convinced, do all he could to ruin and injure her in case of his
accession to the throne.
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