Lambert's wife and
Ireton's widow met in the park. The first, as her husband was in
possession, claimed the precedency, and the latter complained of the
grievance to Cromwell, her father, whose patent of lord lieutenant was on
the point of expiring. He refused to have it renewed; and, as there could
be no deputy where there was no principal, Lambert's appointment of deputy
was in consequence revoked. But Mrs. Ireton was not content with this
triumph over her rival. She married Fleetwood, obtained for him, through
her father's interest, the chief command in place of Lambert, and returned
with him to her former station in Ireland. Cromwell, however, paid for
the gratification of his daughter's vanity. That he might not forfeit the
friendship of Lambert, whose aid was necessary for his ulterior designs,
he presented him with a considerable sum to defray the charges of the
preparations which he had made for his intended voyage to Ireland,--Ludlow,
i. 355, 360. Hutchinson, 196. Lambert, however, afterwards discovered that
Cromwell had secretly instigated Vane and Hazlerig to oppose his going to
Ireland, and, in revenge, joined with them to depose Richard Cromwell for
the sin of his father.--Thurloe, vii. 660.]
[Sidenote a: A.D.
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