banquet afterwards and left early, but after his recovery went deer hunting in Windsor Great Park, where he was blooded by Samuel Masham, his father's page. Princess Anne wrote to the Countess of Marlborough, "My boy continues yet very well, and looks better, I think, than ever he did in his life; I mean more healthy, for though I love him very well, I can't brag of his beauty." During the trial of Sir John Fenwick, who was implicated in a plot to assassinate King William, Gloucester signed a letter to the King promising his loyalty. "I, your Majesty's most dutiful subject," the letter read, "had rather lose my life in your Majesty's cause than in any man's else, and I hope it will not be long ere you conquer France." Added to the letter was a declaration by the boys in Gloucester's army: "We, your Majesty's subjects, will stand by you while we have a drop of blood." In 1697, Parliament granted King William £50,000 to establish a household for the Duke of Gloucester, though the King only permitted the release of £15,000, keeping the difference for himself. The establishment of Gloucester's own household in early 1698 revived the feud between Anne and William. William was determined to limit Anne's involvement in the household, and therefore appointed, against her wishes, the low church Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, as Gloucester's preceptor. Anne was high church, and Burnet, knowing she was unhappy, attempted to decline the appointment, but the King insisted he accept it. Anne's anger was only placated by an assurance from King William that she could choose all the lower servants of the household. The Earl of Marlborough, a friend of Anne's, was appointed Gloucester's governor, after the Duke of Shrewsbury declined the office on the grounds of ill health. Shortly before the King sailed for the Netherlands, he received Anne's choices from Marlborough but he refused to confirm them. His favourite, the Earl of Albemarle, eventually convinced him to agree to Anne's appointments, and the King's acceptance was sent from the Netherlands in September 1698. The Marlboroughs' twelve-year-old son, Lord Churchill, was appointed Gloucester's Master of the Horse, and became a friend and playmate. Abigail Hill, a kinswoman of the Countess of Marlborough, was appointed his laundress, and Abigail's brother, Jack Hill, was made one of Gloucester's gentlemen of the bedchamber. Burnet lectured Gloucester for hours at