Editing Mary of Modena (section)

== Duchess of York (1673–1685) ==

=== Household ===
[[File:King James II as Duke of York.jpg|upright|thumb|[[James, Duke of York]], in a portrait by Sir [[Peter Lely]]|alt=Formal three quarter length portrait of James aged about thirty. He has a long face with large cleft chin and red lips. He has long blonde hair and poses in black armour, with a brocade sash and lace cravate and clasped a baton in his right-hand.]]

James, an avowed Roman Catholic, was twenty-five years older than his bride, scarred by [[smallpox]] and afflicted with a stammer.<ref>Haile, p. 40</ref> He had secretly converted to Catholicism around 1668.<ref>Waller, p. 135</ref> Mary first saw her husband on 23 November 1673 OS, on the day of their second marriage ceremony.<ref>Waller, p. 149</ref><ref>Haile, p. 41</ref> James was pleased with his bride.<ref>Turner, p. 114</ref> Mary, however, at first disliked him, and burst into tears each time she saw him.<ref>Oman, p. 31</ref> Nonetheless, she soon warmed to James.<ref name=Oman40>Oman, p. 40</ref> From his first marriage to [[Anne Hyde]], a commoner, who had died in 1671, James had two daughters: [[Mary II of England|Lady Mary]] and [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Lady Anne]].<ref name=Chapman33>Chapman, p. 33</ref> They were introduced to Mary by James with the words, "I have brought you a new play-fellow".<ref name=Chapman33 /> Unlike Lady Mary, Lady Anne disliked her father's new wife.<ref name=Waller22>Waller, p. 22</ref> Mary played games with Anne to win her affection.<ref name=Waller22 />

The Duchess of York received £5,000 spending money annually and her own household, headed by Carey Fraser, Countess of Peterborough;<!-- this is very unclear --> it was frequented by ladies of her husband's selection: [[Frances Stewart, Duchess of Richmond]] and [[Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch]].<ref name="Waller15" /><ref>Waller, p. 24</ref><ref>Oman, p. 46</ref><ref>Oman, p. 38</ref> That Mary loathed gambling did not stop her ladies compelling her to do so almost every day.<ref name=Oman45 /> They believed that "if she refrained, it might be taken ill".<ref name=Oman45>Oman, p. 45</ref> Consequently, Mary incurred minor gambling debts.<ref name=Oman45 />

The birth of Mary's first child, Catherine Laura, named after [[Catherine of Braganza|Queen Catherine]], on 10 January 1675 OS represented the beginning of a string of children that would die in infancy.<ref>Oman, p. 48</ref> At this time the Duchess of York was on excellent terms with Lady Mary, and visited her in [[The Hague]] after the younger Mary had married [[William III of England|William of Orange]]. She travelled incognito and took Lady Anne with her.<ref>Marshall, p. 172</ref>

=== Popish plot and exile ===
{{main|Popish plot}}
The Duchess's Catholic secretary, [[Edward Colman (martyr)|Edward Colman]], was, in 1678, falsely implicated in a fictitious plot against the King by [[Titus Oates]].<ref>Fraser, ''King Charles II'', p. 463</ref> The plot, known as the [[Popish Plot]], led to the [[Exclusion Bill|Exclusionist movement]], which was headed by [[Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury]].<ref>Fraser, ''King Charles II'', p. 470</ref> The Exclusionists sought to debar the Catholic Duke of York from the throne.<ref>Haile, p. 76</ref> Their reputation in tatters, the Yorks were reluctantly exiled to [[Brussels]], a domain of [[King Charles II of Spain]], ostensibly to visit Lady Mary—since 1677 the wife of Prince William III of Orange.<ref>Chapman, p. 67</ref><ref>Brown, pp. 10–12</ref><ref>Fea, p. 83</ref> Accompanied by her not yet three-year-old daughter [[Isabel Stuart|Isabella]] and Lady Anne, the Duchess of York was saddened by James's extra-marital affair with [[Catherine Sedley]].<ref>Oman, p. 56</ref> Mary's spirits were briefly revived by a visit from her mother, who was living in [[Rome]].<ref>Haile, p. 88</ref>
[[File:Mary of Modena by William Wissig1.jpg|230px|thumb|upright|Mary in the year of her husband's accession, 1685, in a painting by [[Willem Wissing]]|alt=An informal portrait of Mary. She has a long handsome face, dark eyes and black hair. Her hair, her brown satin dress and plain linen undergarment are in fashionable disarray. She clasps a white dog.]]

A report that King Charles was very sick sent the Yorks hastily back to England.<ref name=Oman63 /> They feared the King's eldest illegitimate son, [[James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth]], the commander of England's armed forces, might usurp the crown if Charles died before their return.<ref name=Oman63>Oman, p. 63</ref><ref>Fea, p. 85</ref> The danger was compounded by the fact that Monmouth enjoyed the support of the Exclusionists, who held a majority in the [[English House of Commons]].<ref name=Oman63 /> Charles survived but, feeling the Yorks returned to court too soon, sent James and Mary to [[Edinburgh]], where they stayed on-and-off for the next three years.<ref>Haile, p. 92</ref><ref>Turner, p. 171</ref> Lodging in [[Holyrood Palace]], the Yorks had to make do without Ladies Anne and Isabella, who stayed in London on Charles's orders.<ref>Oman, p. 67</ref> The Yorks were recalled to London in February 1680, only to return again to Edinburgh that autumn; this time they went on a more honourable footing: James was created King's Commissioner to Scotland.<ref>Fea, p. 96</ref> Separated from Lady Isabella once again, Mary sank into a state of sadness, exacerbated by the passing of the Exclusion bill in the Commons.<ref>Waller, p. 35</ref><ref>Haile, pp. 99–100</ref> Isabella, thus far the only one of Mary's children to survive infancy, died in February 1681.<ref name=Oman71>Oman, p. 71</ref> Isabella's death plunged Mary into a religious mania, worrying her [[physician]].<ref name=Oman71 /> At the same time as news reached Holyrood of Isabella's death, Mary's mother was falsely accused of offering £10,000 for the murder of the King.<ref name=Oman71 /> The accuser, a pamphleteer, was executed by order of the King.<ref name=Oman71 />

The Exclusionist reaction that followed the Popish plot had died down by May 1682.<ref>Waller, p. 36</ref> Exclusionist-dominated Parliament, suspended since March 1681, never again met in the reign of Charles II.<ref>Waller, p. 37</ref> Therefore, the Duke and Duchess returned to England, and Mary gave birth to a daughter named Charlotte Mary in August 1682; Charlotte Mary's death three weeks later, according to the French ambassador, robbed James of "hope that any child of his can live"—all James's sons by his first wife died in infancy.<ref>Haile, p. 109</ref> James's sadness was dispelled by his revival in popularity following the discovery of a plot to kill him and Charles.<ref>Oman, p. 75</ref> The objective of the plot, known as the [[Rye House Plot]], was to have Monmouth placed on the throne as Lord Protector.<ref>Oman, pp. 75–76</ref> The revival was so strong that, in 1684, James was re-admitted to the [[Privy Council]], after an absence of eleven years.<ref>Fraser, ''King Charles II'', p. 569</ref>