bed. Vexed with our mayde Luce, our cook-mayde, who is a good drudging
servant in everything else, and pleases us, but that she will be drunk,
and hath been so last night and all this day, that she could not make
clean the house. My fear is only fire.

24th (Lord's day). With Sir W. Batten to White Hall, and there I to Sir
G. Carteret, who is mighty cheerful, which makes me think and by some
discourse that there is expectation of a peace, but I did not ask [him].
Here was Sir J. Minnes also: and they did talk of my Lord Bruncker, whose
father, it seems, did give Mr. Ashburnham and the present Lord Digby L1200
to be made an Irish lord, and swore the same day that he had not 12d. left
to pay for his dinner: they make great mirth at this, my Lord Bruncker
having lately given great matter of offence both to them and us all, that
we are at present mightily displeased with him. By and by to the Duke of
York, where we all met, and there was the King also; and all our discourse
was about fortifying of the Medway and Harwich, which is to be entrenched
quite round, and Portsmouth: and here they advised with Sir Godfry Lloyd
and Sir Bernard de Gum, the two great engineers, and had the plates drawn
before them; and indeed all their care they now take is to fortify
themselves, and are not ashamed of it: for when by and by my Lord
Arlington come in with letters, and seeing the King and Duke of York give
us and the officers of the Ordnance directions in this matter, he did move
that we might do it as privately as we could, that it might not come into
the Dutch Gazette presently, as the King's and Duke of York's going down
the other day to Sheerenesse was, the week after, in the Harlem Gazette.
The King and Duke of York both laughed at it, and made no matter, but
said, "Let us be safe, and let them talk, for there is nothing will
trouble them more, nor will prevent their coming more, than to hear that
we are fortifying ourselves." And the Duke of York said further, "What
said Marshal Turenne, when some in vanity said that the enemies were