Faith, Hope and Christopher: The Secret Life

But it was clearly not Christopher's intention. By now Faith was resigned to enjoying his brotherly companionship and to meeting with his exalted friends, including Tom, who, since his ordination, had obtained the post of Chaplain to the Duke of Buckingham, one of the King's most influential advisors. He was disappointed too, with the stalemate. Just as everything had settled into a dull routine, one of those unpredictable events swamped Christopher's world. Like Shakespear's tide it flooded him into even greater good fortune; and the unlikely instrument of his good fortune was the plague. Seeping out from London and other ports into the English countryside, it caused him to give him to give up his frequent visits to the capital, flee Oxford and eventually take a boat across the English Channel. Plague was a fact of life, something that existed in England, one of a number of pitfalls for the unwary or the unfortunate. The Holders and the Coghills were not unduly worried when in the June of 1665 they heard of the outbreak in London, though Faith was concerned when she heard of the extent of the epidemic. She wrote Christopher an anxious letter and begged him not to go to London again until it was declared safe, but he did not receive it. Very many of his wealthy acquaintances were departing for the safety of the continent. When he next saw the King, Christopher was told that he was to contact Lord Berkeley and join him on a journey to Paris. He needed no urging nor any second invitation after being proffered by the King a letter of introduction which would enable him to meet the most talked-of architect in Europe, Giovanni Bernini, who was there on a visit. The letter and other papers necessary for his journey were produced almost at once, before he had time to consult with anyone, or had even formally accepted the offer; such was the haste of the evacuation. He hardly had time to pack. Before Fay's letter was delivered, he was on the road to Brighton, gon