King James, and of the Prince of Orange, and of myself were all at once upon the anvil." He had had but a few days to admire himself in his gay costume, when news arrived that, on the defection of the Prince of Denmark, the Princess Anne, fearing her father's resentment, had withdrawn herself by night from London, and was hastening towards Nottingham; and the report that two thousand of the King's dragoons were in hot pursuit, threw the new levies into a state of painful consternation. They scrambled to arms, and advanced with precipitation along the London road. Before they had proceeded many miles they met the Princess journeying leisurely in a coach, attended only by Lady Churchill, afterwards the famous Duchess of Marlborough, and Lady Fitzhardinge. The recruits, on being assured that no dragoons were in pursuit, turned gallantly back; and escorted Her Highness into Nottingham, with a calm consciousness of superior valour.
In the evening, the nobility and principal personages in the neighbourhood supped with the Princess. There being some dearth of attendants, Cibber's services were requested, and the post assigned to him was to wait on the Lady Churchill. Fifty years later, Cibber, in language of inflated exaggeration, described the effect the lofty Sarah's beauty produced upon his heart that evening. "All my senses were collected into my eyes, which, during the whole entertainment, wanted no better amusement than of stealing now and then the delight of gazing on the object so near me." Nor does the lapse of half a century seem to have chilled the warmth of his admiration. "A person," says he, "so attractive; a husband so memorably great; an offspring so beautiful; a fortune so immense; and (a title, which when royal favour had no higher to bestow, she could only receive from the Author of nature) a great-grandmother without grey hairs!
