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claimed by Thomas Stapleton; in 1803, in that of the barony of
Stapleton; in 1803, in that of the barony of Chandos, claimed by the
Reverend Tymewell Brydges; in 1813, in that of the earldom of Banbury,
claimed by General Knollys, etc., etc. But the present was no similar
case. Here there was no pretence for litigation; the legitimacy was
undoubted, the right clear and certain. There was no point to submit to
the House, and the Queen, assisted by the Lord Chancellor, had power to
recognize and admit the new peer.
Barkilphedro managed everything.
The affair, thanks to him, was kept so close, the secret was so
hermetically sealed, that neither Josiana nor Lord David caught sight of
the fearful abyss which was being dug under them. It was easy to deceive
Josiana, entrenched as she was behind a rampart of pride. She was
self-isolated. As to Lord David, they sent him to sea, off the coast of
Flanders. He was going to lose his peerage, and had no suspicion of it.
One circumstance is noteworthy.
It happened that at six leagues from the anchorage of the naval station
commanded by Lord David, a captain called Halyburton broke through the
French fleet. The Earl of Pembroke, President of the Council, proposed
that this Captain Halyburton should be made vice-admiral. Anne struck
out Halyburton's name, and put Lord David Dirry-Moir's in its place,
that he might, when no longer a peer, have the satisfaction of being a
vice-admiral.
645
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