the fierceness of the beginning my Mother more than feared the End would be fatal and therefore had sent two Expresses for the Doctors That I came then from waiting on her but I had found her so altâ—r'd as the change had amazed me since I thought I saw the image of Death in that face which till then had been all life I added that in a whisper she had desired me to send him speedily to her and that I would so order it as to entertain my Mother while she herself was speaking alone to him since she had something on her heart to say that till she had told him and received his answer on it she should be in torments At first my Brother seem'd unmov'd at her danger and request but I at length prevail'd with him to go where we found my Mother all in tears the violence of Victoria's Fever so greedily increasing on her The vastness of my Mothers affliction was no ill preparative to melt my Brothers heart when he came to Victoria's â—ed she resign'd to him her place and I to allow them the freer liberty to discourse drew her to a Window under pretence of seeing from thence if either of the Doctors were coming I never could learn what in particular past between them but I saw him at last kneel down by her for my eyes were still turned that way and laying his lips to her burning hand seem'd thereby to seal her Pardon But my Mother who apprehended such Visits might be hurtful to the fair Patient ordered us both to retire I cannot better parallel his Grief than by telling you Madam it was equal to his late Fury and as we walked together into the Park he discovered to me how the day before he was secretly married to Victoria for he knew he could never have obtain'd my Fathers consent to do it since her Beauty and Virtue was all her Portion He further told me with groans that he trembled to think 't was his Brutishness had reduc'd her to the deplorable state she was then in and informed me afterwards of their Assignation her failing and his resentments at it a Relation which alas I knew better than himself That though he more than feared 't was his outragious Passion had flung her into the Fever yet she could not be brought to acknowledge to him it had done so But she had beg'd his forgiveness for deluding him in such moving Words Actions and Tears as those confest to him that Truth which he could not extort from her Mouth That he had beg'd her Pardon on his knees for his Crime which she had granted him with a tenderness so charming that her forgiving him in such a manner had wounded him as deeply as his Barbarity had her This Account he gave me in so much affliction and disorder that it brought on accession to my griefs which till then I believ'd were uncapable of any The share which he thought I bore in his misery heightned his friendship and made him beg of me a thousand Pardons that he had till then concealed his Marriage from me which was the first and should be the last offence he would be guilty of but that now my lively sense of his grief had extorted from him that Confession which else he would not have made for he fear'd when ever his father knew it if he should also learn I was acquainted with it 't would involve me in his disgrace the apprehension of which only had hitherto sealed his lips sâ— that he never had been seemingly unkinâ— to me but to be really the contrary We then in many embraces renew'â— our friendships Soon after we saw one of the Doctor Gallop by us we hastily followed him to learn his judgment of Victoria's conâ—dition upon which both our own depenâ—ded In brief Madam the Physitian awhile felt her Puâ—se and shook his Head and having apply'd all that his art and kindness could dictate he told my mother the seventh day in great grief That his Patient had more need of a Priest than of him And that his skill deluded him if some distemper of the Mind had not reduc'd her Body to so dangerous a state But Madam Brandon continued I perceive your Generosity and Compassion has made you too large a sharer in poor Victoria's sufferings I shall not therefore augment it by particularizing all the fatal passages of this Story 'T is too much you know all the Physitians Care and Art all my Mothers Kindness and Assiduities all my Brothers Pardons and Tears and all my Groans and Submissions could not in the least prevail with Victoria to live her scrupulous Virtue made her judge my Clinic was her own and having lay'n one night in my Arms she concluded herself unworthy ever after to lie in my Brothers and that she was only fit for those of death To which she hastened with such earnestness and resolution that those who knew not the cause admired at the action and I who knew it deplored it with such excess that the effect of my sin was believed singly the product of my good Nature The Ninth day of her Sickness was the last of her Life and had like to have been of my Brothers and mine For before she locked herself up with her Confessor and after she had taken an eternal Farewell of my unconsolable Father and Mother she gave one half hour of her hasty time to me and one full hour to my poor Brother but what she said to him to mitigate his sorrows heighten'd them since to lose for ever so much Beauty Virtue and Goodness was above the power of Consolation and from the hour of her death he courted his own What she said to me was consonant to her admirable Virtue and made me more in love with her Mind than I had â—ver been with her Person The nearer her illuminated Soul approached to the happiness she now enjoyes the greater the lustre of it did shine and though she spoke to me innumerable excellent things yet I shall relate to you but this one She conjur'd me to flie from Sin for when it is committed none can foresee how productive it is in Evil nor the utmost conâ—sequences which attend it You thoughâ— she added that I had been unchaste anâ— that gave you the opportunity to be sad Buâ— you did not imagine that by satisfying on voluptuous desire it should plunge you 〈◊〉 Incest the death of your Mistriss anâ— alas I fear that of your Friend and Broâ—ther All these were not your design but 〈◊〉 one Sin they became your guilt and by youâ— sorrow I see they are your punishment However she continued puâ—â—ing towards mâ— her pale and trembling hand I forgivâ— you and have in tears beg'd of God to do it Ah! by this so pregnant a Sin be for ever frighted from committing another This is the last Request I shall make you and if you grant it 't will be the greatest blessing you can bestow upon your self The
which his heart by some secret emotions told him was or sooner would be his Conqueror did awhile make him continue moveless I cannot tell but as soon as he had seen the danger her Protector was in for his Cloaths were all bloody or rather to participate in the Duty and Honour of her deliverance his Generosity or growing Flame made him immediately draw his Sword and by a menacing Cry compell'd the Stag to turn towards him and then to run so fiercely at him that by his too intent gazing on his new Mistriss he had like to have received from the irritated Beast more fatal wounds than had been yet given him by the Beauty he was serving How many glorious Successes had our Nation been rob'd of and how many stupendious Vicissitudes had the World avoided if the fury of the Stag had not been diverted by the destiny of the King but though the mournfullest effects of it were hinder'd by his Agility yet he could not avoid the shock but was by the impetuosity of it cast upon the ground with such violence that it depriv'd him for a moment of the use of his senses The Stag had so overshot himself by missing what he meant should only have stopped his career that before he could turn about to finish what he had in part failed of our Monarch had recover'd spirits enough to see his danger but not to revenge or prevent it and just as the Stag was running at him the second time at which the Nymph made a great shreek Brandon generously bestrid the Kings body and with undaunted courage and great dexterity defended it long eenough for our Prince to get up and with his Sword in his hand to contribute to the death of that Enemy which had been so near acting his The Stag was no sooner fallen but our Monarch and Brandon forgetting to acknowledge to one another the mutual obligations they had so recently given and received went hastily as it had been by Concert to offer their Services to the Beauty to whom they had paid such signal ones who received them both with the Retributions which their good Meens and their Actions so abundantly merited Her fear being vanished which had too much conquer'd the vermillion of her Face the lovely red re-assumed the Throne again with so much lustre as never two hearts at once were vanquish'd with so much celerity and so little resistance as our Henry's and Brandon's were But when together with her exterior Charms those of her Discourses had united themselves neither of our Gallants could tell by which of the Senses Love made the shortest approach to their Hearts She saluted them both with a grace peculiar to herself and with words as inchanting as her eyes so that they both began to believe that what Poets fancied was to them a reality and that this was the Goddess of the Forest. But as soon as she perceiv'd Brandon's cloaths all wet with his blood and that some still trickled from a wound he had in the Neck his could not run faster from the Hurt than hers did from her Face so that taking hastily an Incarnation Skarf which was cast about her shoulder she went with it trembling and blushing to her new Adorer and desired his permission with her hand to stop that blood which had been so obligingly shed in her service Brandon received the charming favor on his knees and told her trembling and blushing more than she I thought Madam the delight of being wounded in the honour of your service was incapable of any accession but this unmeritable condescention of yours has convinced me of that error and nothing could diminish my joy but that 't is rais'd by your trouble But Madam he continued how could the person whom you blest with such evidences of your favor before your danger abandon you in it Ah! how unworthy was he of those felicities I saw you confer on him These last words he accompanied with a sigh and she heard them with a smile which our young Lover knew not how to interpret But our Monarch more sensibly wounded by this kindness of his new Conqueress to his Rival than he had been by the Stag leaning against a Tree and folding his arms one within another by some sighs which reached the Ladies ear made her turn hastily towards him and then to ask him Whether he had also received any wound which needed her assistance Our Henry reply'd with a look which told her his passion Yes Madam I have received a wound and a more dangerous one than his 〈◊〉 that if he of us two which most needs the happiness of your concernment has the best title to it your charity has hitherto been misemployed The fair Nymph was cover'd with blushes at this unexpected Declaration and Brandon was so peek'd at it that 〈◊〉 she immediately interpos'd both her Prayers and Commands and added her Promises that she would forgive their disrespect to her if they forgave each other as in a moment the calm was as great as the storm else would have been And finding by the temper of these two Gallants that the fire she had supprest by her authority and presence might revive in her absence she conjur'd them for her sake to promise solemnly they would eternally become friends and that they would evidence they had granted her earnest request by an immediate embracing of one another it was impossible to tell which of them was most expeditions in paying his obedience for though by accident they were engaged â—n a difference yet by inclination they had contracted so good an opinion of each other that nothing less than being Rivals could have hinder'd them at first sight from being friends The fair Mediatress of this Peace was doubly pleas'd with it for she not only hinder'd a quarrel between persons to whom she was much obliged but the manner of their obeying her gave her a welcome evidence of the Ascendant she had over them Every one of the three being ignorant who the other two were and all being desirous noâ— longer to continue in that unhappiness she entreated her two Deliverers to acquaint her who they were Our Monarch immediately acquainted her his name was Tudar that he had the happiness to belong to the King and the great honour to be his Kinsman and that he was that morning come from the melancholy of the Court to divert himself a Hunting Brandon immediately paid him those respects which his being of the Royal Blood were justly due unto him and with all the civility imaginable beg'd his pardon for what his ignorance of his quality had made him guilty of and could only apologize for protesting he so highly reverenced every one of the sacred blood of his Prince that his own to the last drop of it should be joyfully shed in the duty of their service Our Prince repaid his Civility with fresh Embraces and there began that friendship which our most celebrated Historians have Recorded and with Justice
morning and evening she failed not to do I had not been long on the attendance when through a little opening of my door which I had made on purpose ◠saw my Brother come to the foot of th◠Stairs walking short turns and every moment casting up his eyes to observe when she would descend At last she appeared but as soon as she saw him her face was cover'd with blushes but his at the sight of her became pale as Death and such a shaking seized on all his limbs as it too evidently discover'd the storm in his Soul Victoria either ashamed to look on him who she believ'd that night had rifled her greatest treasure or else minding her steps looked not on him till she was within seven or eight of the bottom but then casting a look towards him as full of modesty as fire and thinking none could hear her she told him I hope Sir you are now satisfied He without giving her leave to finish what she had begun reply'd in a furious tone Yes I am satisfied But 't is That you are the falsest of Women and 〈◊〉 long you shall be satisfied my Resentment shall be as great as my Affront Then without so much as staying for her Answer he flung away in such rage that I who saw it am not able to describe it The poor Victoria at so amazing an usage became white as Innocence and gave no sign that she was alive but by an universal trembling The fright I was in lest she should fall down those steps on which her astonishment had seized her made me run out of my concealment and so timely that I catch'd her in my Arms just as her Senses had forsaken her whereby I prevented that Death by her fall on the pavement which her grief made her desire All the Servants in the Family who were not then employ'd in the necessary functions of it were gone to the Chappel and so were my Father and Mother whereby missing of all help I carried Victoria into my Chamber and there by bowing her body rubbing her temples and casting water on her face I brought her at last out of her fainting and then conjur'd her to tell me the cause of it She onely answer'd me with a deep sigh at which I smil'd and acquainted her I had heard all that had past between her and my Brother She knew I had too much concernment for her not to be sensible of her then condition and therefore having awhile reflected on my smiling on a sudden the cast her eyes towards me and fixing them stedfastly on me she told me I conjure you Brandon to tell me and truly too where you lay last night I instantly answer'd With the greatest Beauty of the World and then told her how I came to over-hear her Assignation with my Brother and had by my Art repair'd the misery of her unkindness All the while I was making that short Narrative I saw her colour come and go her heart ready to force a passage through her breast and in so many other Agonies that had she actually made me as unfortunate as she once intended the sight of her then suffering would have been too severe a revenge But alas when I came to the end of my information she fetch'd a hideous skreem and fell dead on the Bed to which at first I had carried her I cannot tell you Madam which of my Griefs were greater to see her in that condition or to find her having made me happy against her will had reduced her to it however I endeavour'd all I could to restore her to her Senses which at length I effected but she had no sooner open'd her eyes and saw her self in my Arms then she relaps'd and so long and so dangerously that when I fear'd I could not recover her from Death I resolved to accompany her in it But when I began to despair of her return she came to herself again and while I was on my knees celebrating my joyes for it and renewing my passionate request to know what was the occasion of that sorrow which was so dangerous to her and me she strove to go away but not being strong enough to do it she fell again upon the Bed and told me in an Accent too moving to be imitated Ah Brandon you have ruin'd your Brother and me and your self if at least the friendship you have hitherto paid him be not a fiction for I am your Brothers wife and this morning A crowd of sighs and a torrent of tears stop'd the passage of her words but alas what she had said reduced me to a condition as worthy of pity as hers was which as soon as she observ'd it heightned her own afflictions so that she employ'd a quarter of an hour and with interrupted words in telling me That my Brothers Hunting the day before was but a pretence to go the earlier abroad to meet her with a Priest by appointment in a Grove where they had been married At the end of this Relation her Woman who had mist her at the Chappel and had in vain sought her over all the House came to inquire of me if I could tell her where she was there finding her in a fainting condition by her help we brought Victoria to her own Chamber and her Distemper every moment increasing she took her Bed and I retired My Father and Mother having miss'd her at their Devotions concluded some indisposition was the cause of it wherefore they came to visit her and finding she was in a high Fever they went hastily to their Closets to write for two of the eminentest Physitians in the Countrey I took that opportunity to steal into her Chamber kneel'd by her Beds-side and in more tears and sighs than words convinced her of the vastness of my grief and then advised her to send immediately for my Brother and to tell him She had locked him out of her Chamber one night meerly to try his temper but since she found he resented that seeming unkindness so highly she beg'd his pardon for it was really sorry she had committed that fault and would endeavour to repair it by all the actions of her Life This was the best counsel I could then present her and asking her Whether she approved it and if it were her pleasure I should send my Brother to wait on her She onely told me with a sigh Do what you will Then turning from me she fell a weeping in such excess that I thought she would be drown'd in her own tears As soon as I heard my Mother coming in at one door I slip'd out at the other and went to seek my Brother for I was confident if he went not to visit her it would both increase her danger and possibly discover the cause of it At last I found him in a Grove of the Park lying his full length near a Brook and in troubles almost as great as mine I told him Victoria was fallen into a burning Fever and by
excellency of her Admonitions the Generosity with which she pardon'd me the unexpressible sorrow for her death and my own fatal guilt which had caused it so powerfully operated on me that retiring from her more dead than alive I went trembling to my own Chamber where having spent an hour in all the Agonies which those Reflections could cast a despairing Soul into I resolved to forsake for ever my Fathers house and immediately with some Jewels which my Father had given my Mother and she had given me for I was her Favorite I stole the back way to the Stables took one of my best Horses and Rid towards Dover but so overwhelm'd with grief and trouble as I knew not what I did From Dover I past the Channel into France and for two years last past I served sometimes in the Armies of King Francis the Fifth and sometimes in those of the Emperor Charles the Fifth where being careless of my life or rather weary of it and desirous to lose it I perform'd some such bold Actions as I wanted not the offers of great Preferments from those famous Princes But my unconsolable griefs which made me do what they thought merited their Favors made me also decline all those their Generosities offer'd me And I had still liv'd that wretched and vagabond life had not a young Gentleman of Glocestershire who had been my Neighbor there arrived three weeks since at the French Army to learn the Art of War by whom I was assured That the day of my flight from my Fathers the fair Victoria dyed That my Brother having rather languished than outlived her ten days followed her And that by his repeated desires he was buried in the same Grave with her for at his death he had acknowledged she had been his Wife That my Father and Mother at the loss of her him and in appearance if not in effect of me also so languished away that they were likewise buried together in one Monument so that by this Gentlemans importunities and his telling me that one afar off related to our Family was suing for my Estate and was like to carry it I was persuaded to return though without the least hope of relishing Life But Madam continued Brandon since I had the honour to see you I begin to cast off that despair and now that it has been in some small measure useful to your service in hopes it may be more I shall cherish it and only on that Account The King and Izabella blush at these last words and partly to divert Brandon from considering it and also to pay the just debt of Sorrow and Pity due to his Story by turns acknowledg'd he had but too much made good what at first he had said of the greatness of his Misfortune While they were in Discourses of this nature our Monarch saw Howards come Galloping towards him who from the time he had lost his Prince had been ranging the Forest to find him which having thus happily done the better to Act the disguise the King had resolved to keep they often embraced each other Howard still calling him by the name of Tudor and expressing much trouble for their separation and joy at their meeting Howard had no sooner cast his eyes on the fair Izabella and on Brandon but he admired them both and they made him their returns in the same Coin for doubtless never four persons were more worthy the Name of Perfect than those were whom Fortune had by Accident brought together that morning Soon after they perceiv'd a Chariot coming hastily towards them attended by six Pages and Footmen in magnificent Liveries and in it only one Lady whose eyes had attacked our three new Lovers hearts had not Izabella prepossest the places This Beauty as soon as she came to them alighted out of her Chariot and without so much as taking notice of our three Gallants ran with open Arms to embrace and kiss Izabella which she did a hundred times and Izabella did the like to her And then told her Charming Friend the great obligation she had to her two Deliverers who immediately in words and â—ctions so enchantingly presented them â—er acknowledgments for it as it renewed their former imaginations of the Forest being inhabited by Diana and her Nymphs The Lady newly arrived whose name was Vtresia came to seek Izabella in a Chariot the heat of the day having turned walking into a trouble to whom she whisper'd something at which they both smil'd and then continued their walk towards Charleton which was not a Furlong off The Chariot being too little to carry all five the three Captives often beg'd of the Ladies that they would go into it and allow them the honour to walk by it for the heat began to grow importunate which yet the Ladies chose to suffer rather than be guilty of such incivility They therefore all five walked together till they came to the Gate where such a crowd of Beauties came to meet Izabella and to congratulate her Deliverance which one of the Pages had run to inform them of that our Monarch was ravished to see he had so many charming Beauties his Subjects and deplor'd the severities of his Fathers Reign which had hinder'd them from frequenting his Court. They all invited our Prince Howard and Brandon to refresh themselves in the Palace but our Henry apprehending to be discover'd despairing also before so many Witnesses to entertain Izabella alone and longing to entertain his own thoughts he took his leave of them begging and obtaining their permissions to wait on them again when on a sudden Brandon turned pale and fell into a fainting Fit but so happily for him that Izabella who first perceiv'd it to prevent his falling on the Pavement supported him in her Arms till others ran to his assistance so that even his seeming want of Life flung him into one of the happiest postures of it Our King instead of pitying envied him and began to dread a Rival whose Misfortunes contributed to his Felicity The obliging Izabella being sensible that his loss of blood and his attending on her a-foot in the great heat had reduced him to that condition judged her self tyed to repair the Ill which she had been the occasion of and therefore desired and obtained of the fair Vtresiâ— who was the Lady of the place a Room for him to which he was immediately convey'd and the nearest Physitian and Chyrurgion sent for Thus Brandon lodg'd in the house where of all the world he long'd most to be his disaster contributing to his design more than any thing else could have done so as he only wanted the satisfaction of being in a condition to relish it In the mean while the King having his Horse brought him by Howard's Groom did with his Master Gallop to the Lodge entertaining himself with the various Accidents that morning had produc'd and at least beginning to find though he were the Monarch of England yet he carried in his heart a greater