1637.] AA'D HIS DUCHESS. 



197 



James T. Her father, of whom she was the youngest daughter, 

 was Sir Charles Lucas, a gentleman of a very ancient and 

 honourable family, and who was himself a man of great spirit 

 and fortune. Dying young, he left the care of his children to 

 his widow, a lady of exquisite beauty and admirable accom- 

 plishments, who took upon herself the education of her 

 daughters, and instructed them in needle-work, dancing, 

 music, the French tongue, and other things that were proper 

 to women of fashion. In 1643, Margaret obtained permission 

 from her mother to go to Oxford, where the court tlien re- 

 sided, and where she could not fail of meeting with a favour- 

 able reception, on account of the distinguished loyalty of her 

 family, as well as of her own accomplishments. Accordingly 

 she was appointed one of the Maids of Honour to Henrietta 

 ]\Iaria, the royal consort of Charles I., and in that capacity 

 accompanied her Majesty to France, when the queen was 

 obliged, by the civil war, to quit England. At Paris, Miss 

 Lucas first saw the Marquis of Newcastle, then a widower, 

 who, admiring her person, disposition, and ingenuousness, was 

 married to her in that city, in 1645. After their marriage, 

 the Marquis and Marchioness of Newcastle went from Paris 

 to Rotterdam, where they resided six months, and from that 

 to Antwerp, which they fixed upon as their place of residence 

 during the time of their exile. The exigency of their affairs 

 obliged the marchioness to go into England, with a view to 

 obtain some of the marquis's rents, in order to supply their 

 pressing necessities, and pay the debts they had contracted ; 

 but she could not procure a grant from the rulers of those 

 times, to receive one penny out of her noble husband's vast 

 inheritance : and had it not been for the seasonable gene- 

 rosity of Sir Charles Cavendish, she and her lord must have 

 been exposed to extreme poverty. At length, however, having 

 obtained a considerable sum from her own and the marquis's 

 relations, she returned to Antwerp, where she continued with 

 him till the Restoration, and employed herself in writing 

 several of her works. On her return to England the remain- 

 ing part of her life was principally employed in composing 

 and writing letters, plays, poems, philosophical discourses, 



