thought herself his superior, and John, to her, was more a convenience
than a husband.

Gradually Dorothe grew indifferent toward her husband's mother and young
sister, who idolized him, and though they bore her no thought of ill,
she came to despise them. John's mother saw that her son's wife was
ruining him by her extravagance, yet she dared not interpose as it would
make the rupture complete. Dorothe was a haughty cavalier and despised
all Puritans and, most of all, her husband's mother; but the cavaliers
were in trouble. King Charles was tried, condemned and beheaded in 1649,
and a protectorate (Oliver Cromwell) ruled over England a few months
after the execution of the king. John Stevens' wife gave birth to a son
who was named Robert for his wife's father.

Though England was a commonwealth, Virginia remained loyal to the
wandering prince, who slept in oaks and had more adventures than any
other man of his day. Berkeley, it is said, even invited him to come and
rule over Virginia, assuring him of his support; but Parliament took
notice of the saucy colony and, in 1650, ordered a fleet to conquer it.
The fleet did not reach Jamestown until 1652, when, after a little
fluster, Sir William Berkeley retired to Greenspring, and the government
was turned over to the roundheads, who chose Richard Bennet, Esquire, to
be governor of the colony for one year. On the day of Bennet's
inauguration, John Steven's second child, a daughter, whom he named
Rebecca, was born. These two links of love made his wife more dear to
him. At times she was pleasant; but usually she studied to thwart his
will. She was humbled with the cavaliers and hated the Puritans. Ann
Linkon, an old woman given to gossiping, incurred the displeasure of
Dorothe Stevens, because she gossiped about her extravagance. She had
her arrested, condemned and ducked as we have seen. There was no open