intrigue with Barbara Palmer. The unhappy fascination which this
vile woman exercised over his majesty increased with time; and
though his ministers declared a suitable marriage would reform
his ways, his courtiers concluded he had no intention of
abandoning his mistress in favour of his wife. For Barbara
Palmer, dreading the loss of her royal lover and the forfeiture
of wealth accruing from this connection, had firmly bound him in
her toils. Moreover, in order that he might continually abide
under her influence, she conceived a scheme which would of
necessity bring her into constant intercourse with him and the
young queen. She therefore demanded he would appoint her one of
the ladies of the bedchamber to her majesty, to which he,
heedless of the insult this would fix upon his wife, readily
consented.

In order to qualify Barbara Palmer for such a position, it was
necessary she should be raised to the peerage. This could only
be accomplished by ennobling her husband, unless public decency
were wholly ignored, and she was created a peeress in her own
right, whilst he remained a commoner. After some faint show of
hesitation, Roger Palmer accepted the honours thrust upon him by
reason of his wife's infamy. On the 11th of December, 1661, he
was created Earl of Castlemaine, and Baron Limerick in the
peerage of Ireland, when the royal favourite became a countess.

And now the merry month of May being arrived, the queen was
speedily expected; and on the night of the 13th joyful tidings
reached London that the "Royal Charles," accompanied by the
fleet, was in sight of Portsmouth. At which news there was great
rejoicing throughout the town, church bells ringing merrily, and