Townshend accepted the task with enthusiasm. He was forty-three years of age, and had succeeded in achieving an unpopularity that provided him with a vast amount of inspiration for lampoons and caricatures. He never cultivated friendship either in men or women, and he found his chief relaxation in vilifying his opponents. He had fought under Wolfe at Quebec, and, the death of his superior having placed him in command, he claimed the honours, declaring that his fertile mind inspired Wolfe's plans and carried them into execution. The man who did this was capable of anything, and he was selected to break the power of the Irish Parliament. Lord Bristol had failed {172} the ministry, declining the post on Lord Hertford's resignation, although he started for Dublin. When Bristol was informed that he would be expected to live in the Irish capital, he threw up the appointment in disgust. In the circumstances Townshend's selection was a hurried one, but he had no scruples about anything, and was the man for an unscrupulous task. {173} CHAPTER XI The five years of Lord Townshend's viceroyalty were fruitful for Ireland. He might have adopted craftier methods and injured the country more than he did, but he openly pursued a stupid policy of bribery and spite: by the former gaining the adherence of the incompetent, and by the latter exasperating the men who in the end defeated him. Amongst the Irish peers whom he was anxious to win over to his side was a kinsman, Lord Loftus. Loftus had some power in the Lords and in the Commons, and by reason of the viceroy's relationship to Lady Loftus he counted upon dealing the Opposition party a heavy blow. Lady Loftus, with visions of a great social position for herself, fell in with Townshend's plans, though her husband was stubborn. Then Lady Townshend died, and Lady Loftus had a fresh inspiration. The viceroy was a widower, and during his visits to Rathfarnham Castle had often noticed pretty little Dorothea Munroe, her ladyship's niece. Why should she not marry the couple? With her niece as the viceroy's wife Lady Loftus would be the most powerful woman in Ireland, and the exchanging of a viscountess's coronet for a {174} countess's, or even a duchess's, would be accomplished easily. From that moment she let Townshend know that the marriage of Dolly Munroe would be the price of her husband's allegiance, and the Lord-Lieutenant, cynical and daring, began to visit Rathfarnham Castle daily and flatter Dolly's hopes. The girl was only seventeen when Lady Townshend died in 1770, and the leading beauty of her time. Henry Grattan was one of her admirers, but the most favoured in a wide circle was Hercules Langrishe, afterwards the Sir Hercules Langrishe who accepted L15,000 from Lord Castlereagh not to vote against the Act of Union. There is no doubt that Dolly would have married Hercules Langrishe but for her aunt. Perhaps she had ambitions herself, and the prospect of reigning in Dublin Castle