In his retirement at Trent, Charles began to indulge the hope of a speedy liberation from danger.  A ship was hired at Lyme to convey a nobleman and his servant (Wilmot and the king) to the coast of France; the hour and the place of embarkation were fixed; and a widow, who kept a small inn at Charmouth, consented to furnish a temporary asylum to a gentleman in disguise, and a young female who had just escaped from the custody of a harsh and unfeeling guardian.  The next evening[e] Charles appeared in a servant’s dress, with Juliana Coningsby riding behind him, and accompanied by Wilmot and Windham.  The hostess received the supposed lovers with a hearty welcome; but their patience was soon put to the severest trial; the night[f] passed away, no boat entered the creek, no ship could be descried in the offing; and the disappointment gave birth to a thousand jealousies

[Footnote 1:  This lady received a reward of one thousand pounds for her services, by order of the two houses.—­C.  Journals, 1660, December 19, 21.]

[Sidenote a:  A.D. 1651.  Sept. 17.] [Sidenote b:  A.D. 1651.  Sept. 18.] [Sidenote c:  A.D. 1651.  Sept. 19.] [Sidenote d:  A.D. 1651.  Sept. 20.] [Sidenote e:  A.D. 1651.  Sept. 23.] [Sidenote f:  A.D. 1651.  Sept. 24.]

and apprehensions.  At dawn of day the whole party separated; Wilmot, with a servant, going to Lyme to inquire after the master of the vessel; Charles, with his companions, proceeding to Bridport to wait the return of Wilmot.  In Bridport he found fifteen hundred soldiers preparing to embark on an expedition against Jersey; but, unwilling to create a real, by seeking to eschew an imaginary, danger, he boldly pushed forward to the inn, and led the horses through the crowd with a rudeness which provoked complaint.  But a new danger awaited him at the stable.  The hostler challenged him as an old acquaintance, pretending to have known him in the service of Mr. Potter, at Exeter.  The fact was that, during the civil war, Charles had lodged at that gentleman’s house.  He turned aside to conceal his alarm; but had sufficient presence of mind to avail himself of the partial mistake of the hostler, and to reply, “True, I once lived a servant with Mr. Potter; but as I have no leisure now, we will renew our acquaintance on my return to London over a pot of beer.”

After dinner, the royal party joined Wilmot out of the town.  The master of the ship had been detained at home by the fears and remonstrances of his wife, and no promises could induce him to renew his engagement.  Confounded and dispirited, Charles retraced his steps to Trent; new plans were followed by new disappointments; a second ship, provided by Colonel Philips at Southampton, was seized[a] for the transportation of troops to Jersey; and mysterious rumours in the neighbourhood rendered[b] unsafe the king’s continuance at Colonel Windham’s.[1] At Heale, the residence

[Footnote 1:  A reward of one thousand pounds was afterwards given to Windham.—­C.  Journals, Dec. 17, 1660.]