"His Majesty hath been urged again and again to divorce her; but he will
not. He said to the Duke himself in my hearing one day that an innocent
woman should never suffer through him--which is good hearing. But Her
Majesty is not very happy, I am afraid."

When we came to the Maypole, which I had already seen, in the midst of
the Strand, he spoke to me of how it had been carried there and set up
with great rejoicing, after the Restoration. It was a great structure,
hung about by a crown and a vane; and he said that it stood as a kind of
symbol against Puritanism.

"There are many," he told me, "who would pull it down to-morrow if they
could, as if it were some kind of idol."

He saw me as far as the door of my lodgings; but he would not come in.
He said that he had no great desire to be known more widely than be was
at present known.

"But if you have time to come in to-morrow morning about ten o'clock to
Mr. Fenwick's lodgings in Drury Lane--over the baker's shop--I shall be
there, and Mr. Ireland also--all Fathers of our Society; and I will very
gladly make you known to them. My own lodgings are in Weld Street--at
the Ambassador's."

I thanked him for his kindness, and said I would be there; and so I bade
him good-night.

* * * * *

Although I had learned very few things that day which I had not known