In 1746, however, he had to exchange the Lord-Lieutenancy for Secretary of State. Chesterfield had hoped to retain a hold over the King through the influence of Lady Yarmouth, the mistress of George II, but John Montagu (4th Earl of Sandwich) and Thomas Pelham-Holles (1st Duke of Newcastle) combined forces against him, and in 1748, he resigned the seals and returned to his books and playing cards with the admirable composure that was one of his most striking characteristics. Despite his denials, Lord Chesterfield is speculated to have at least helped to write "Apology for a late Resignation", "in a" "Letter from an English Gentleman to his Friend at The Hague", which ran for four editions in 1748.