Abigail's Cousin (12 page)

"Greengrass
and honey, ma'am. It will relax you and give you a restful
night."

The queen
smiled assent to Hill rising and proceeding to the anteroom. A
clock strikes. She hears her George still snoring and smiles. A few
minutes later Hill returns with a gently steaming cup, tasting it
for heat and then handing it over to the queen who accepts and
starts to sip motioning Hill to resume her place. After a few sips
she turns to Hill saying:

"I've been
thinking Hill of that brother of yours. What has become of him?"
Hill unthinkingly says loudly: "Jack!" whereupon the queen puts
finger to lips conspiratorially and Hill whispers:

"In his last
letter ma'am, he told me about Captain Stanhope. How he persecutes
my poor Jack."

The queen
thought a while then said aloud: "I shall find out about ye captain
Stanhope. Write your brother to keep his spirits up. I may have a
surprise for ye captain Stanhope, but that's between you and me,
Hill. Leave it with me."

Hill was moved, visibly
an
d her voice shook with
emotion:

"Oh, your
majesty, that you concern yourself with such lowly matters."

Anne smiled,
pleased with Hill's reaction and said comfortingly:

"I get more
pleasure Hill from ye little things than ye great affairs of state.
Believe me!" In her concern for another, Anne had completely
forgotten her low spirits of a short while ago, and she sank back
on her daybed feeling aglow with warmth of contentment. She looked
at Hill and said sincerely:

"This is ye
first opportunity Hill of doing something for you, for your family.
I shall not let ye chance slip."

'That was
midnight, ma'am, those chimes. Shall I get you ready for bed?"

The queen smiled assent thanking her good
fortune that, at Garden House, there was no need for the ritual of
bedtime that was habitual at St James Palace. She thanked her lucky
stars to be without the odious presence of the of
ficial lady of the bedchamber.

-------------------------------------------

Queen Anne
reclined on her daybed sipping a hot posset prepared by her
bedchamber-woman, Abigail Hill who, in the queen's bedroom next
door, was making final arrangements for the queen later to retire.
She leaned back against the several cushions placed behind her and
feeling contented and relaxed, she addressed her servant:

"It do seem
your brother be soon on ye way to ye Netherlands. Will you see him
again before he goes, Hill?"

At the sound
of her voice, Hill had come to the door of the dressing room and
spoke in reply:

"Sadly no, your majesty. He has already
left with the 227th fo
ot
to Ramsgate. It has all happened so quickly. I did not know we were
at war, until he told me."

There was a
scraping sound from outside the door and Hill hurried over, the
queen not bothering to respond as it was near bedtime and they both
knew whom it might be. She opened it to admit a woman who stood
across the threshold addressing the queen:

"Does your
majesty wish to retire?" The queen gave answer: "Indeed Lady
Fitzharding. Will you help me stand?" She handed the empty cup to
Hill taking her ladyship's hand and attempting to rise from the
daybed.

"Are you
there, Hill!" commanded Fitzharding who wanted help as the queen
was a very large and heavy woman and she was clearly in some
discomfort, her gout, as usual, reacting to movement. Slowly the
trio moved to the door the queen resting on Hill's arm more as
there was insufficient space in the doorway for more than two. Then
having gained the four poster bed, the queen feels great relief to
sit while Hill prepares for the next step in the ritual of
retirement.

She goes down
on her haunches and the queen in a panic says:

"Hurry Lady
Barbara or Hill will have the beating of you." She was teasing but
the lady does not smile as she stoops to remove the queen's
slippers handing each to Hill, then rises while she utters the
mantra:

"May I be of
further service to you, your majesty?" The queen gives a formal
reply: "You may leave me, Lady Barbara,"

She bids
goodnight and walks to the door waiting for Hill who is obliged to
open it, wait for her to go through into the corridor and then
closes it."

For some time there has been no warmth in
this time-honoured ritual. Lady Barbara Fitzharding was exercising
her prerogative to attend the monarch's retirement; it was a
well-paid sinecure and the person appointed would usually have
performed some service in the past towards her. Lady Churchill, for
example, was also a lady of the bedchamber having been a playmate
to the prince
ss and
later a personal friend.

The source of
Lady Fitzharding's unpopularity with the queen arose out of
religion and the tense situation some ten years before, in May
1692, when England was threatened by a French invasion to restore
James II, Anne's father, to the throne. Unwilling to compromise
herself, Lady Fitzharding has sent a fellow catholic to offer the
protestant princess Anne safe conduct in the event of an
invasion.

A short while
later, the French invasion fleet had been destroyed by a combined
Anglo-Dutch fleet and Anne withdrew her cooperation, but she had
compromised herself and Lady Fitzharding used her secret to remain
in her position. Worse, Lady Churchill had discovered that although
safe conducts had been offered to some of Lady Fitzharding's
friends but not to her, now resentfully warned the princess of Lady
Fitzharding's Catholic allegiance, and refused to occupy the same
building.

In consequence
the princess, now Queen Anne, had a two-fold reason to dislike Lady
Fitzharding. Her knowledge of Anne's possible perfidy but also that
she very much missed her friend, Lady Churchill. However to some
extent that was in the past as Lady Churchill with a growing family
had other reasons for not being her constant companion apart from
the fact that their two residences in London and St Albans were too
far apart for regular social intercourse.

The queen had
mixed feelings about Lady Churchill proposing her cousin, Abigail
Hill as bedchamber-woman, but as her former friend's visits became
few and far between, she wondered whether Hill had been
deliberately placed there as a substitute, and resented her, but
had learned since that Abigail Hill had reasons to resent her
cousin’s patronage. Over several years through her knowledge of
herbal remedies, Hill was able to relieve the queen of the worst
aspects of her debilitating gout. One great blessing conferred by
Hill was a good night's sleep, a great boon to a woman with so many
official duties to perform.

The effects of
the posset she had drunk was beginning to work its magic and she
was feeling drowsy though before she dozed off, the queen forced
herself to say:

"Your brother
is gone for some time, Hill, is it not so?"

"Indeed ma'am,
who knows when I shall see him again,"

The queen
smiled remarking: "Thank the Lord for small mercies, Hill. I know
it be selfish but I did miss ye two nights back when you were away
to your brother. I awoke in ye middle of ye night. It was
excruciating ye pain in my big toe, on ye left foot."

Hill was about
to say something then heard a gentle snore from the bed so she
quietly pulled the curtains around the four poster and tip-toed
from the room leaving the door slightly ajar. She recalled the
occasion when having returned from seeing her brother off to war,
she had returned to the palace to be confronted by Mrs Danvers who
complained to her that her majesty had been in such pain and that
she had been able to do nothing to relieve her. She later went to
sympathise with the queen whose symptoms she had herself
experienced though this revelation to her majesty had done nothing
to relieve the memory of her agony.

Abigail smiled
to herself recalling something her mother had related. It had to do
with a book Mrs Hill senior had devoured in her youth, written by
the most famous herbalist of the day, Nicholas Culpeper. He had
opined that many people could relieve the symptoms of their
ailments by collecting herbs and flowers in their own garden and
preparing them. His book had shown people how to do it and her
mother had passed on her practical experiences to her daughter.

As Abigail listened to the queen's gentle
snoring, she thanked her mother, for her passed-on knowledge was
doing good to the highest in the land. She snuffed the candle and
made her way to her truckle bed. Her head touched the pillow
and
she was instantly
fast asleep.

PART 2: WIFE

Where was Marlborough? Marlborough was
nowhere
, at least as far
as he wanted Le Marechal Tallard, in command of the combined
Franco-Bavarian army, to know. On the eve of battle, Marlbororough
was in his tent along with Captain Parker, his aide-de-camp. Their
furniture was sparse: Two camp-beds, a washbowl, a privy and most
important to Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough, a portrait of his
wife, Sarah, perched upon his campaign table.

Parker would be busy at his easel upon
which was an enormous chart which every now and then as scouts and
picquets arrived with bits of news, such as the location of enemy
units, Parker would update. Very often the picquets would meet
their opposite number, and each would give the other a wide berth,
but Parker would get to know of it. By disseminating the essential
from the not so useful, Parker would build up his picture of the
area. Reconnaissance-in-depth would yield the best information but
that takes time. In the meantime, Parker could display a picture of
the anticipated battle scene using symbols, an arrow here, a symbol
there denoting perhaps a wooded area, or a water-mill, quite a few
of those, One salient feature was the stream falling from it's
source on the high ground to the valley, splitting into branches,
two descending into the valley another running towards the
Danube and falling off a
cliff.

The duke
wanted to know the strength and disposition of the enemy forces, in
particular the number of ‘escadrons’, and likewise strength of foot
in numbers of battalions. Scouts were particularly asked to take
notes of regimental flags so as to know the quality of the troops
and cavalry ranged against the allied forces. Here the personal
insignia of a particular commander would determine the quality of
the opposition. The duke pointed to Parker's slashes of blue
wanting his aide-de-camp to explain the figure he had added which
turned out to be the width of the stream, little crosses denoting
that on each side of the river there was marshy ground. It seems
the stream was flatteringly called a river, the Nebel whereas the
cluster of symbols denoting houses, church and mill was a village,
Blentheim. The duke little realised the name would one day come to
represent, his home in England.

The duke pointed his riding whip cum baton
at the
strip of blue:
“We must consult Colonel Cadogan as to pontoons for the transit of
our batteries.” Parker said to him: "You won't be surprised your
grace to know that your quartermaster has that already in hand. He
promised to let me know some unknown details when his picquet
returns. It seems to be our good fortune that we got here after a
hot and dry summer."

"I was talking
to major-general Netzmer," said Marlborough, "it seems he knows the
area having been wounded in an engagement between his Prussian
division and a superior force commanded by the Elector."

The same
Elector, sir?" asked Parker receiving an affirmative nod from the
duke who added: "You might care to have a word with him as he
mentioned having to bridge this very river."

"Permission to
speak, your lordship!" The voice same from behind and turning
round, the duke faced a serjeant who saluted. Asked to proceed he
reported: "My picquet has just got back, my lord," when Marlborough
noticed he was shivering. He said:

"Come into the
warmth serjeant. You were sent to scout the river. Did you fall
in?"

The serjeant
went nearer an oil stove set up to take off the midnight chill. He
answered: "In a manner of speaking, sir. Sinking the pontoons was a
messy business. Colonel Cadogan ordered me back here."

"Stay around till you're dry, serjeant. I
wouldn't want you to catch chill." Then addressing Parker, added:
"I'm
going to make my
rounds, captain; until later!"

--------------------------------------------------------------

In another
area of the encampment was a very large marquee with sloping sides
which served as sleeping quarters for a few of the thousands of
soldiers bivouacking overnight. There was a sentry outside and he
challenged a newcomer who answered with the password provoking the
question: "Where's your officer?" to which the sentry replied:

"Lieutenant Hill!
Over there by the fire. He's sitting with
his back to you." Then cupping one hand, calls over somewhat
disrespectfullly: "Jacko!"

The man turned round, cheroot in his mouth
vocally wondering who was about to disturb him an
d as the firelight played upon Hill's
features and his uniform, the newcomer noted his dishevelled
appearance and 'Jacko' recognises the visitor. His voice is the
sound of complaint:

"If it isn't
Masham! Captain Masham, of course. To what do I owe this
honour?"

"Captain
Parker's compliments, lieutenant. I am instructed to convey orders
to the Pioneer detail." Masham spoke in a stiff military manner,
and added as an after-thought: "Where is your second in
command?"