The Queen, however, wrote a very dutiful and tender letter to the King, full of art and flattery, but it seems to have touched George’s heart deeply; perhaps in those twelve hours of tossing in the storms of the Channel, the little man had thought seriously of the foolishness of leaving so good a wife, that in the search after happiness, he was leaving the substance in Caroline--and she was certainly substantial--for the elusive shadow in the Walmoden; anyhow he wrote his Queen a most remarkable letter of thirty pages, more the effusion of an eager lover than an old man for his wife. “In spite of all the danger I have incurred in this tempest, my dear Caroline,” he wrote, “and notwithstanding all I have suffered, having been ill to an excess which I thought the human body could not bear, I assure you that I would expose myself to it again and again to have the pleasure of hearing the testimonies of your affection, with which my position inspired you. This affection which you testify for me, this friendship, this fidelity, the inexhaustible goodness which you show for me, and the indulgence which you have for all my weaknesses, are so many obligations, which I can never sufficiently recompense, can never sufficiently merit, but which I also can never forget.”[39] Certainly the storm had shaken the little man very much and left him in a condition which would have proved weak in the crisis which arose after his return, had he not been supported on the one hand by Walpole and on the other by his ever scheming Queen. FOOTNOTES: [37] This has been denied. [38] Her jointure House. [39] _This is the pretty original French_:-- “Malgré tout le danger que j’ai essuie dans cette tempête ma chère Caroline, et malgré tout ce que j’ai souffert en etant malade à un point que je ne croisois, pas quel le corps humain pourroit souffrir, je vour jure que je m’éxposorois encore et encore pour avoir le plaisir d’entendre les marques de votre tendresse que cette situation m’a procuré. Cette affection que vous temoignez, cette amitié, cette fidelité, cette bonté inépuisable que vous avez pour moi, et cette indulgence pour toutes mes foiblesses sont des obligations que je ne sçaurai, jamais récompenser, que je ne sçaurai mériter, mais que je ne sçaurai jamais oublier non plus.” CHAPTER XVI. PARLIAMENT AND THE PRINCE’S INCOME. It has been stated that the Prince of Wales’s popularity had been steadily growing ever since his marriage. It was much increased about this time, just before the King’s return, by his determined action at a fire which occurred near the Temple, the latter cluster of old buildings being said to have been saved by his timely intervention, which limited the loss to five or six houses.