truly. I did also discourse the unfitness of
my leaving of my employment now in many respects to
go into the country, as my wife desires, but that
I would labour to fit myself for it, which he thoroughly
understands, and do agree with me in it; and so, hoping
to get over this trouble, we about our business to
Westminster Hall to meet Roger Pepys, which I did,
and did there discourse of the business of lending
him L500 to answer some occasions of his, which I
believe to be safe enough, and so took leave of him
and away by coach home, calling on my coachmaker by
the way, where I like my little coach mightily.
But when I come home, hoping for a further degree
of peace and quiet, I find my wife upon her bed in
a horrible rage afresh, calling me all the bitter
names, and, rising, did fall to revile me in the bitterest
manner in the world, and could not refrain to strike
me and pull my hair, which I resolved to bear with,
and had good reason to bear it. So I by silence
and weeping did prevail with her a little to be quiet,
and she would not eat her dinner without me; but yet
by and by into a raging fit she fell again, worse
than before, that she would slit the girl’s
nose, and at last W. Hewer come in and come up, who
did allay her fury, I flinging myself, in a sad desperate
condition, upon the bed in the blue room, and there
lay while they spoke together; and at last it come
to this, that if I would call Deb. whore under my
hand and write to her that I hated her, and would
never see her more, she would believe me and trust
in me, which I did agree to, only as to the name of
whore I would have excused, and therefore wrote to
her sparing that word, which my wife thereupon tore
it, and would not be satisfied till, W. Hewer winking
upon me, I did write so with the name of a whore as
that I did fear she might too probably have been prevailed
upon to have been a whore by her carriage to me, and
therefore as such I did resolve never to see her more.
This pleased my wife, and she gives it W. Hewer to
carry to her with a sharp message from her.
So from that minute my wife begun to be kind to me,
and we to kiss and be friends, and so continued all
the evening, and fell to talk of other matters, with
great comfort, and after supper to bed. This
evening comes Mr. Billup to me, to read over Mr. Wren’s
alterations of my draught of a letter for the Duke
of York to sign, to the Board; which I like mighty
well, they being not considerable, only in mollifying
some hard terms, which I had thought fit to put in.
From this to other discourse; and do find that the
Duke of York and his master, Mr. Wren, do look upon
this service of mine as a very seasonable service to
the Duke of York, as that which he will have to shew
to his enemies in his own justification, of his care
of the King’s business; and I am sure I am heartily
glad of it, both for the King’s sake and the
Duke of York’s, and my own also; for, if I continue,
my work, by this means, will be the less, and my share