The clue of the whole foreign policy of England and Holland was in his possession.

His fidelity and diligence were beyond all praise.

These were strong recommendations.

Yet it seemed strange to many that William should have been willing to part, for a considerable time, from a companion with whom he had during a quarter of a century lived on terms of entire confidence and affection.

The truth was that the confidence was still what it had long been, but that the affection, though it was not yet extinct, though it had not even cooled, had become a cause of uneasiness to both parties.