Shortly after the birth of Anne, the royal father returned from his first grand naval victory, and found the Great Plague raging to such an extent that he at once removed his wife and children to York. That place had the double advantage of pure air, and of being in the neighborhood of the duke's fleet, that was cruising off the northeast coast to keep an eye on the Dutch ships. The Duchess of York had everything about her very splendid in her northern home, and was so happy there that when her husband was summoned elsewhere she preferred not to accompany him. No doubt this lady had faults,--who has not?--but her most prominent one was an excessive love of eating. This would have harmed no one but herself; therefore we should not have recorded it, {335}if it had not been transmitted to her children. Both of the daughters carried this weakness even further than their mother did, and she was injudicious enough to indulge them. As a natural consequence the children accumulated an unhealthy quantity of fat, and, of course, became victims of indigestion. Anne was a regular rolly-poly as a child; but as there is a separate chapter devoted to her we must confine the present story, as much as possible, to the elder sister. Ladies Mary and Anne pursued their education under the direction of Lady Frances Villiers, daughter of the Earl of Suffolk and wife of Sir Edward Villiers. This-lady had six daughters of her own, and must have had her hands full with the care of eight girls. She lived with them at the old palace at Richmond, where Queen Elizabeth died, and her daughters grew up with the princesses, and formed a connection that lasted through life. Being deprived of their mother when they were, respectively, six and nine years of age, Mary and Anne naturally clung to the companions who shared their education and to the lady who superintended it.