Note 40 — Chapter X · ADAPTED OR PALIMPSEST PLATES
Reading edition
It is not easy to decide which of the female figures is intended to represent Mary of Modena and which the miller’s wife. At first sight one would expect the Queen to be represented by the central figure 3, but, on the other hand, I have in my possession a very rare mezzotint of the period which represents Father Petre and the Queen in almost identical attitudes as figures 1 and 2 in the present plate. This view of the matter is supported by the following scandalous verse of the day: