The English PRINCESS OR THE Dutchess-Queen A RELATION OF ENGLISH and FRENCH ADVENTURES A NOVEL In Two PARTS LONDON Printed for Will. Cademan and Simon Neale at the Popes-Head in the Lower-Walk of the New-Exchange and at the Three Pidgeons in Redford-street in Covent-Garden 1678. THE English Princess OR THE Dutchess QUEEN The First PART THE Monarchy of England having been long in dispute betwixt the two Roses the Red of the House of Lancaster and the White of that of York fell at length to the peaceable inheritance of the former and never appeared in greater splendour than in the time of Henry the Eighth This Prince being of a most sharp and piercing wit by study and learning advanced daily more and more in knowledg and was no sooner at the age of eighteen Crowned King but that he seemed already to hold in his hands the Fate of all Europe All that was to be blamed in him was his love of pleasures which in progress of time got the Dominion over him and some kind of sickleness the blemish of several of his Family he had a delicate and well-proportioned body a countenance of singular beauty and shewed always such an Air of Majesty and Greatness as inspired both love and reverence in all that beheld him At his Assumption to the Crown when his heart was not as yet subjected to the pleasures of sense it was but a meer scruple of conscience that made him unwilling to marry Catharine of Spain his Brothers Widow to whom the late King his Father had betrothed him three years before his Death no engagements in love with any other Mistresses at that time being any ways the cause of his aversion But two of his chief Ministers who had been formerly private Pensioners of Isabel of Castile having represented to him the losses that he was likely to sustain by a mis-understanding with Spain easily cleared all his doubts so that at length he made use of the dispensation which with much difficulty had been obtained at Rome for his marriage and the League which at the same time King Ferdinand his Brother-in-law proposed to him with Pope Julius the Second the Emperour Maximilian and the Swisses against Louis the Twelfth King of France filled him with so high an opinion of himself that there hath been nothing more lovely than the first years of his marriage and Reign And indeed he gave himself so wholly to jollity and mirth amidst the great designs which he contrived that his Example being a pattern to his Court it became so compleatly gallant that the Ladies themselves thought it no offence to decency publickly to own their Votaries The Princess Mary his younger Sister as she excelled in Quality so she exceeded the rest in Beauty Margaret the eldest married to the King of Scotland had only the advantage of her in Birth for in Beauty her share was so great that there was never any Princess who deserved more to be loved The qualities of her mind and Character of her Parts will sufficiently appear in the sequel of this discourse and as to her body nothing was wanting that might render it perfect her complexion was fair her soft skin enriched with that delicate whiteness which the Climate of England bestows commonly on the Ladies of that Countrey and the round of her face inclining near to a perfect Oval Though her eyes were not the greatest yet they possessed all that could be desired in the loveliest eyes in the World They were quick with mildness and so full of love that with a single glance they darted into the coldest breasts all the flames that sparkled in themselves Her mouth was not inferiour to her eyes for being very little and shut with lips of a perpetual Vermilion in its natural frame it presented an object not to be parallel'd for Beauty and when again it opened whether to laugh or speak it always afforded thousands of new Charms What has been said of her pretty mouth may be likewise said of her fair hands which by their nimbleness and dexterity in the smallest actions seemed to embellish themselves but more might be spoken of the Soveraign Beauty of her Neck which when age had brought it to perfection became the master-piece of Nature Her Stature was none of the tallest but such as Ladies ought to have to please and delight and her gate address and presence promised so much that it is no wonder that the Charms of Nature accompanied with a tender and passionate heart gained her before the age of fifteen the Conquest of most of her Fathers Subjects Before she was compleat twelve years of age she was promised in marriage to Prince Charles of Austria heir to the Kingdom of Castile and since named Charles the Fifth For Lowis the Twelfth of France having frustrated that young Prince of the hopes of marrying the Princess Claudia his daughter by designing her for the Duke of Valois his presumptive heir notwithstanding the natural aversion that Anne of Brittanie his Queen had against him Henry the Seventh no sooner understood that the alliance of the house of Austria with France was unlikely to succeed but he began to think on means of contracting it with England Richard Fox Bishop of Winchester was therefore sent to Calais to negotiate in his name that marriage with the Deputies of Flanders who thereupon concluded a Treaty to the satisfaction of all Parties But the alteration of the King changed all these measures Henry the Eighth having in a manner against his will married the Aunt of the young Arch-Duke found not in that second Union with Spain all the advantages which his Father seemed to foresee and whether it was already an effect of repentance as some termed it or that he had in it the particular design which men had ground to suspect since he many times in discourse approved the ancient custom of his Kingdom of not giving in marriage the Daughters or Sisters of the Kings out of the Island for which he was so applauded by all that even those of his Council who were the least complaisant made it by little and little as he did a reason of State to forget the proposals of Calais So that now the Princess Mary being free from the engagement of the late King her Father and the great Men of England eying her as a blessing to be enjoyed by the most happy she found her self amidst a croud of lovers who in the peace and quiet of the Kingdom made it their whole business to disquiet themselves Amongst the most sparkling and assiduous pretenders Edward Gray Son to the Marquess of Dorset and Henry Bourchier Son to Thomas Earl of Essex appeared the chief Charles Son to Sir Charles Sommerset Lord High Chamberlain came next and Thomas Howard Son to Thomas Earl of Surrey Lord High Treasurer with William Talbot Son to George Earl of Shrewsbury Steward of the Kings Houshold put in amongst the rest These five Rivals being already very considerable by
to which he â—â—posed himself by discovering that secret began to gain ground upon him He made appear to him that he must either have been a fool or weary of life to have invented such a fable and more fully to convince him he recounted to him the whole story of the marriage of the Earl of Warwick his Father and that Anne Hemlock his real Mother dying in Child-bed of him the Lady Brandon substituted him in place of one of her Children which just then died having been born but a few days before him He put him in mind of what he had been told heretofore of the repugnance that the Lady made whom he believed to be his Mother when she was invited to be Nurse to the King And then perceiving him to be a little moved he had no great difficulty to convince him that he was the secret cause of that unwillingness which was so variously discoursed of amongst people and adding to this several other passages of his education which being all of the same strain and character gave evidence enough that there had always been some mystery in his fortune he past them but slightly over that at the same time he might insinuate that if he loved his life it behoved him not to remember them He only hinted to him that the secret of his birth should encourage him to resist his Rivals who believed themselves better descended than he and that if he could keep the secret as well as the Prince his Father had done who had seen him a hundred times out of his prison-Windows and who went to death accompanied with Frier Patrick without speaking a word of it heaven possibly had designed him for great matters That after all he was the only remaining bud of the White Rose whereof Merlin spake in his Prophesie and that his Mothers name so plainly expressed by the word Hemlock made it past all doubt seeing that in effect the Blood of York was fallen into that of Hemlock by his Birth But that these following words of the Astrologer Yet too much zeal doth oft annoy For an inn'cent maid shall it destroy put him in great perplexity That though the punishment of Simonel and death of Peter Warbeck who gave themselves out for Princes of the House of York were instances terrible enough to hinder him from bragging of his extraction yet as it was his opinion that he should continue his love to the Princess so that passion made him very apprehensive That he imagined already that he would discover to her all that had been told him and that though she might still love him yet it might too really happen that she should become the innocent maid that might destroy him if he concealed not from her as well as from every body else that important secret Hastings thus ending his discourse fell on his knees to Brandon that he might once in his life render him the respect which the interest of his safety suffered him not to pay in any other place and that he might beseech him never to entertain thoughts that any such honours were due to him But what difficulty soever this new Prince of York had at first to believe it yet he found at length all things that had been told him so well circumstantiated and so conform to the inclinations of his heart that he had no more power to doubt of the truth of what was told him He promised to be cautious and to conceal his birth and the Lord Hastings who was still his great Uncle by the Mother-side died shortly after either of old age or for fear lest the secret which he had revealed should be discovered In the mean time Brandon whom we must for some time still name so found his Courage by little and little raised by the knowledg of what he was He thereby grew more brisk and agreeable with the Princess more courteous and majestick with others and by the prudent management of the estate left him by Hastings became so considerable that the King himself took pleasure to see him imploy new measures one day to deserve all that he wished him the enjoyment of On the other hand his Rivals being returned from the Pyrenean hills where the designs of the King of Spain who had fallen upon Navar hindered them from atchieving any great exploits found him again of an humour less disposed to yield to them than formerly Sommerset after his return from Scotland could not regain that height upon him which he always pretended to before and Bourchier cured of his wound durst never on that account express to him the least discontent They all appeared to have submitted themselves to their fortunes and whilst Howard and Talbot the one made Admiral and the other Master of the Horse stifled their love by the satisfaction of their ambition Gray and the rest found it impossible for them to delight their eyes but by living in good correspondence with Brandon Their care therefore was only to out-do him in greatness of services and obsequiousness towards the Princess he was the man that was most assiduous that way who gave demonstration of greatest complaisance and there happened some days when it seemed that that Conduct might prove successful they obtained thereby at least more access to her and although through the favours which she was pleased sometimes to show them they perceived too well that they had no share in her affection yet at what rate soever they resolved to persist in rendering her their Services So true it is that with small pains and little care a lovely person is able to produce great effects in the minds of those who are captivated with its beauty Insomuch that all these Rivals began to live together with less contention and contributing severally to the publick pomp whilst the preparations for a War with France were vigorously carried on there was nothing to be seen at London but Plays Horse-races Balls and Dancing where the Ladys in rich dresses setting off the beauty which might procure them praise and esteem obliged likewise their Lovers to imploy their greatest advantages On these occasions the lovely Brandon gained signal honour and whether it was for his good meen or his dexterity in all the exercises of body there was no Gentleman in the Kingdom that seemed not his inferiour So that amongst so many competitors who contended with him for the favour of the Princess there was not any so fortunate as to gain the least of it to his prejudice and though Edward Strafford the young Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Kildare Son to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland both of them lovely and handsom Gentlemen had newly declared themselves his Rivals yet it was without either jealousie or disquiet to him Mary of Lancaster adored by all had no passion for any but him But amidst the pleasures by which the Court of England the most gallant and pompous of that age prepared so sumptuously for the War of France the death
that fatal Rancounter beg'd leave to serve in the same Army and Sommerset went to Scotland upon some pretext of his own So that there remaining none but Bourchier whose wound kept him long from the publick Brandon found himself in a few days delivered from all his Enemies But in their absence they did him more mischief than they had done in person and whether it was an effect of their malice or of the sequel of things which being with difficulty concealed time brings to light at length men began to speak more openly than they had been accustomed to do of the Amours of the Princess and Brandon The King was so far from being offended herewith that he seemed rather to applaud it some who impertinently discourse of the carriage of Princes wherein there is not always so great ground of reasoning as is believed imagined that all that he did that way was a politick fetch to break the Grandees of his Kingdom of the designs they might have for his Sister others who are not always willing to infect the Court with false notions kept themselves to what they saw and more wisely believed that it was only out of a natural complaisance that he entertained for all sorts of gallantry But though all that was said of the Princess and Brandon redounded still to his Honour yet he reaped nothing from it but vexation and grief neither could his truly generous and noble soul relish that honour which he received at the cost of what he loved He was far more affected with the reproaches that the Princess Mary might have talkt of him though indeed she never made any of him On the contrary he having sometimes expressed himself to her concerning these things in a very sorrowful manner she had always the goodness to tell him that he should follow the example and not trouble himself with the discourse of people But 〈…〉 this obliging carriage served only to encrease his pain and as two hearts that are truly smitten are unwilling to be behind in duty to one another so he concerned himself the more in the glory of the Princess that she seemed to slight it for the love of him Insomuch that falling very pensive and melancholick notwithstanding the pains that she took to comfort him and having no other thoughts but to leave the Kingdom that he might remove the occasions of detraction he acquainted my Lord Hastings his Uncle to whom he told all his affairs with his design He being a fierce Old Soldier took him at first up sharply for the little Courage he made shew of afterward falling in discourse about the Earls of Surrey and Essex he told him that the race of Howards and Bourchiers was indeed ancient and raised to vast Estates and eminent Dignities by the merits of many predecessors but that yet they were not the only nobles who could brag of as great antiquity and the glory of as many heroical Actions nor that they had any such advantages as might give them ground to insult over the Brandons and Hastings and that therefore it behoved him not at all for the railery of some jealous Rivals to abandon the Prospects which both the King and Princess did countenance However all this made no great impression on the mind of Brandon He adhered to his resolution and had already taken his measures for withdrawing when at length the good Old man Hastings being unable to retain him by his reasons found himself obliged to discover to him what he had promised never to reveal The resolution was doubtless great and cost the Old man dear besides the weakness of old age he had more reason than any other to be dismayed which made him long complain of the violence that his Nephew put upon him before he began that dangerous discourse And that he might in some manner prepare him for it having brought out a manuscript of all Merlins Prophesies he made him read that which was the cause of the death of the Duke of Clarence conceived in these words When the White Rose shall the Red subdue G. Of that race shall change its Hue And the Red o're it shall bloom anew There shall remain of the White slock But one bud fallen on Hemlock Yet too much zeal doth oft annoy For an inn'cent maid shall it destroy When he had read the Prophesie the ancient Gentleman tracing matters as far back as was necessary explained to him the beginning of the prediction according as the event had made it evident In the first verse he let him see the Victory of Edward of York designed by the White Rose over HENRY the Sixt of Lancaster who carried the Red. In the second he discovered to him the deplorable mistake of that Victorious Prince who having caused his younger Brother George Duke of Clarence to be put to death in a pipe of Malmsey because the first letter of his name was a fatal G. gave his other Brother Richard Duke of Glocester of whom he had no suspicion by his last will opportunity of murthering his two Sons and in the third he shewed him th◠return of Prince Henry Earl of Richmont who in the blood of that Tyrant made the red Roses flourish again But having thus interpreted the three first verses which had given matter of much discourse in that time Hastings his countenance changed colour and being deeply affected with the importance of the secret that he was about to reveal concluding in a fret what with reason he had begun he told him that the world had indeed sufficiently understood by the event of things the beginning of the Prophesie of Merlin but that few understood the rest That though the flatterers of the late King had perswaded him that by the death of the only Son of Richard the Tyrant which happened by a fall the prediction was fulfilled and explicated because that he having fallen in a place where Hemlock grew an inconsiderate person who came running after thinking to wipe and stop the blood of his wound with that herb had hastened his death yet that he understood somewhat more than these flatterers knew and that the cruel death of the poor Earl of Warwick Son of the Duke of Clarence had not fulfilled the Prophesie either but that that unfortunate Prince having escaped from the superstitious scrupulosity of one of his Uncles and being confined to a Castle by the other was secretly married to a Daughter of Charles Hemlock Brother-in-law to himself who commanded in that place by whom he had a Son and that not to hold him long in suspense he was that Son At these words Brandon cried out as if he had been struck with Thunder and the Lord Hastings his Uncle in vain endeavoured to perswade him that though he had reason to be surprised at the relation yet he ought to believe it for he still maintained that it was but a tale devised to excite in him greater Courage At length Hastings by reason of the sensible danger
being a Prince of York but that she loved her self somewhat more on that account and that being well-pleased that she had cause to reverence in him what till then she had but esteemed she rejoyced that she had no reason to fear those stirrings of pride in her heart which might be sometimes troublesom to a person of her Quality in regard of the condition she took him to be of That all that notwithstanding was but a dangerous Idea with which they ought never to entertain themselves That he was dear enough to her as the Son of Brandon and that he would but create her disquiet as a Prince of the Blood of York That so he would not do well to be jealous of the greatness of his Birth that he ought to renounce that for her sake and that bounding all his ambition with the favour of being beloved so tenderly as she loved him he should never attempt to make himself known for the man he was Brandon being at the same time amazed and charmed to hear her speak in so obliging terms could make her no other answer but that she was too gracious and that when he resolved to disclose to her his secret it was not so much to engage her to more goodness towards him as to put her in a condition of punishing him if it ever happened that he should prove unworthy of her favours But the fair Princess stopping him there replied softly That he had no reason to suspect that she should one day punish him unless he thought that he might one day offend her That nevertheless he needed not be afraid though he should even become her Enemy and that she was not the innocent maid of whom Merlin spake afterward without giving him time to answer and considering with more reason than she had at first thought on the design he had projected of removing from Court for a time she represented to him That he ought to have special care not to betray himself by looking on the Dutchess of Salisbury and her Daughter who were expected within a few days at Court as his Aunt and Cousin She added that his true Birth rendered a little suspected to her the choice that the King had made of that Princess for her Conduct having so many times testified that he loved her not She told him that he ought on that occasion distrust him and that though the kindnesses wherewith he had thought fit to entertain her in some Rancounters were certainly nothing else but some exercises and frolicks of wit seeing he did not persist in them yet it was possible there might be in it some hidden mystery which time might discover In fine continued she my Knight and Brother these were the names that she gave him in her Child-hood and commonly still when they were by themselves let us distrust all the world distrust me if you please and above all things have a care to continue still to be Brandon leaving to me the care of the Prince of York and you shall find that whether you be necessitated to depart or have the liberty to abide at Court it shall be more pleasant for you to be reputed what you are in my heart than to appear so in the eyes of the world Thus ended their conversation which as it was the most important interview that they could enjoy so was it also the longest that ever they had had But the Earl of Kildare who had three times presented himself in the Anti-Chamber of the Princess and had been by her Maids still dismissed on frivolous reasons seeing Brandon come forth conceived so great indignation thereat that he followed him with a purpose to quarrel and left him not till he saw him enter into the Kings Apartment This Earl being Son to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and buoyed up besides by the protection of Woolsey and some concerns that he had with the Lady Dacres thought that he might have better success than the rest in the service of the Princess Mary He had not as yet seen any impediment to his design but Brandon and promising himself already great advantages from the apparent disgrace whereof some began to pity his danger he stood not upon examination of what he designed against him He received moreover a new ground of jealousie upon the Arrival of Margaret of York Dutchess of Salisbury which put him out of all patience for being with him at Richmont at the reception which the Princess conducted by the Queen was there to give to that illustrious Widow the first ceremonies being past he unluckily observed a little but very obliging sign that she had made to his Enemy to draw near her chair He afterwards perceived by her eyes and actions that she spake to him with much goodness and in effect the Princess Mary being taken with some features that the Ladies of Salisbury had in common with Brandon she could not forbear telling him at the very instant the trouble that that sight occasioned her so that it was sufficiently observed that she spake to him with somewhat of tenderness and Brandon on the other hand whether for joy to find her so well perswaded of the truth of what he had told her concerning his Birth or to divert her from the officious fears that she had for his sake answering in a composed and contented manner made it almost past all doubt Insomuch that the Earl of Kildare mad of jealousie and being no longer master of himself went forth with a resolution to take his satisfaction in what place soever he could meet him But the King being come likewise to that visit before his going to Greenwich to see a great match of hunting Brandon who was to wait upon him gave not his Enemy the occasion so soon as he expected it And now his thoughts being wholly taken up about his departure and that which the Princess her self had immediately before told him of the resemblance that he had to the Ladies of Salisbury his desire was only bent to withdraw himself and he thought to find an opportunity favourable enough of speaking to the King as he waited upon him down to the Park where he was to take horse but he was deceived in that and it happened to be a fatal nick of time for the King who was out of humour because the Spaniards on the Pyrenean side did not perform on their part what they had promised for a rupture with France answered him pretty briskly that he thought he had been cured of that impatience and as he was about to insist Ha! said he you importune me let me alone I pray thee you will but trouble my sport at Greenwich and so turning his back upon him he went away with those that used to wait on him on such occasions So that the melancholick Brandon thinking that himself only was ordered to stay behind sought out some corner in the Park wherein to evaporate the thoughts which at that time tormented him and had sometime
walked about in that design with a wounded heart for the slight that the King had given him when the Earl of Keldare having had confused notice of what passed came towards him Though he saw him at a pretty distance yet he did not prepare to engage him but stopped to consider the fierce and threatning looks wherewith he advanced towards him Whereupon the Irish man drawing Brandon who was obliged to do the same encountered him And by a wound first in the shoulder made him see his own blood with a second pass he run him through the right arm and the third going quite through his body made him fall against the pales Never was there any quarrel sooner made and more quickly decided The noise of this Duel having called together those who in the delightful spring came to enjoy in that Park the first verdure of the fields and the servants of the wounded Earl being come in Brandon was instantly apprehended and the matter being afterward reported to Woolsey by the authority which that new Minister had already acquired he was made prisoner in a Tower of Richmont-house until that the Lord Mayor of London following the King on his way to Greenwich should receive his Orders concerning that affair The Princess Mary had no information of all this but from the Dutchess of Salisbury who in that confusion and in respect of the Prisoner who was to be carefully guarded was advised not to delay till next day the taking possession of her apartment with the Princess in whom it is not easie to be represented what Impression this news made The reflexions that she had made on the pretended resemblance betwixt Brandon and the two Ladies of Salisbury of the house of York and the secret apprehensions that she thereupon conceived which made her leave the Queen in her Walk pretending her self indisposed held her still in great perplexity She went to bed that she might not be obliged to see any body and there her mind being prepossessed with what she knew and imagining that it would suddenly come to the knowledg of others her thoughts presented to her nothing but dismal objects Insomuch that the disaster of Brandon surprising her in this condition all that she had before but confusedly thought on seemed to her manifest and clear With a great cry she let fall her head on the pillow and to compleat her sorrow she received a note from the King who had given orders to the Mayor of London to remove the Prisoner to the Tower acquainting her directly That he not doubting but that the punishment which Brandon deserved for killing the Earl of Kildare would put her in some disorder he prayed her to suspend the good opinion which she might have for that ungrateful person until that he should inform her of some strange things which he had learned Such general and ambiguous terms susceptible of any meaning that an affrightned mind could give them put the Princess Mary to the extremity of despair and that first night when Brandon went to the Tower of London was a sad and terrible night to her Judith Kiffen who thought it fit to watch with her alone that night and who being ignorant of the mysterious secret that caused her grief imputed to the love alone to which she was privy all the incoherent expressions that seemed to escape from her without judgment had more to do with her than she dreamt of The vexation of her mind was followed by an oppression of body She fell into a Fever but so dangerous as put every one in fear of her life and the Queen and Dutchess of Salisbury who could not be always denied access into her Chamber being next day the most solicitous about her to procure her ease her fortune was certainly good that at that time the violence of her distemper having deprived her of the use of speech put her out of condition of betraying her self The King in the mean-while whose thoughts were far different from hers and being ignorant of the secret causes of her fear proposing to himself in this conjuncture only his revenge both for the indifferency wherewith she entertained his Gallantry and the idle fear that her Lover thereupon conceived followed his game at Greenwich and continued it even longer than at first he intended that such as came from London to beg of him that he would change the orders given to the Lord Mayor against the Prisoner might not find him and that so he might have ground to say that he was ignorant of what had passed Insomuch that several messengers sent either by the Queen or the Dutchess of Salisbury to give him advice of the sickness of the Princess Mary sought him in the Fields and Woods in vain They were everywhere directed to find him in places where he was not but Gray Son to the Marquess of Dorset who of his own head had taken horse was more fortunate in his search The love that he had for the Princess Mary made him sufficiently understand what the best-informed could know of her distemper though it was given out that it had seized her before the business of Brandon happened and how jealous sover he was of the pretious testimony of affection which at that time she gave to his happy Rival yet his jealousie served only to prompt him with greater earnestness to attempt her relief Insomuch that he surmounted all the difficulties that had hindered the rest from finding the King and having passionately given him an account of the dangerous condition that the Princess was in he moved him instantly to return to Greenwich from whence next morning by the break of day he departed for London The insolence of Woolsey was at first sufficiently repressed by the dislike which the King testified of his procedure Having waved the discourses that they would have made to him concerning the wounds of the Earl of Kildare and having nothing in his mind but the sickness of his Sister and knowing better than Gray that her cure consisted in the safety of Brandon he asked presently how he was used and gave order to the Lord Terell to send him such of his servants as he might stand in need of So that fame which commonly is swifter than the Marches of Kings having carried this good news into the apartment of the Princess was without doubt the most acceptable harbinger that she could have of his Arrival But fear having wrought great disorders in her mind and after a new paroxysm of her Fever which did but begin to abate her mind being weakened as well as her body she could not show her self to him as she desired to appear The trembling tone of her voice proceeding rather from the tenderness of her heart than the force of her distemper gave but too sensible a proof of the hard tryal she had been put to and there was nothing more easie than for him to perceive that the life of Brandon was her sole care though she had not
asked him if it was true that he intended to cause him to be put to death So that this Prince who on such occasions was very sensible answering only with kisses and tears and her Caresses expressing her desire far more intelligibly than words gave him hardly liberty to speak that he might oppose himself to the impatience that she was in He left her that he might with his counsel contrive a way to relieve Brandon from the Tower with pretext of justice But for all the formality which he affected to observe in his affairs he had no great occasion to be so scrupulous in this matter The greatest part of the Court who perceived his design spake openly for Brandon against the Earl of Kildare And after a formal shew of examining the tumultuary depositions that they might give some favourable colour to their proceedings the Lords Poyning and Terell were immediately sent to the Prisoner He came with them without a guard and as he cast himself on his knees before the King there appearing in his cloaths some mark of the insolent usage that he had met with you see said the King to him how dangerous it is for you to remove from me and that I had reason not to consent to your departure seeing that in a moment that you have left me there is a world of enemies broken loose against you Whereupon Brandon offering to speak of the aggression of the Earl of Kildare the King stopped him at the first word and commanded him to rise promising to do justice in time and place to him that deserved it Then drawing him a little aside he told him that the Princess's health must be his chief endeavour and that for his better succeeding in that office he thought it not fit he should see her in the disorder that he was in No body heard this discourse nor somewhat else that passed betwixt them It was only seen that the King forced himself to appear grave in his discourse and whilst he himself went to change his cloaths as well as Brandon whom he had again ordered to do so all Brandons friends whom his ill fortune had not as yet much dispersed rallied together and brought him from his Lodgings where some met him and others accompanied him as in triumph to the Palace He payed his second visit to the Queen who had interceded for him and whilst he was with her Majesty the King that he might countenance his visit to his Sister came back to her apartment But he suffered none of his train to come farther in than the first Gallery under pretext that much company was incommodious to sick persons and so soon as he had notice that Brandon was coming leaving none with her but Judith Kiffen he himself withdrew to the Dutchess of Salisbury's apartment that in so delicate and much-desired an interview she might not be under any constraint It would be a great undertaking to endeavour to give a precise and full account of all that was done and said at that time betwixt Brandon and the English Princess besides at first their hearts and eyes made all the discourse the Princess wanting strength to speak otherways and Brandon having so much to say that he knew not well how to express any thing At length the Princess spake first who seeing him more afflicted at her distemper than could be imagined strained her self to tell him that it was nothing and that seeing he was free from the danger wherein she believed him to be she should shortly be cured of the sickness wherein he saw her She declared to him moreover as well as she could that the hurt or death of the Earl of Kildare was not that which had dismayed her but that she feared he had been discovered He answered but very little to that though no body could hear what they said Nor could the Kings note which she gave him to read for the confirmation of her belief and fear engage him to enter on that discourse He knew that the safest way was never to speak more of it and having heard nothing to that purpose in his Prison and the manner how the King received him having no relation at all to that he was well enough acquainted with his character and stile to guess at the truth of the matter So that he thought it sufficient by his looks to free her from the apprehension that she had conceived and discoursing to her only concerning her health with mutual expressions of tender affection they began to renew the testimonies of their real loves when the King fearing that too long a conversation might be hurtful to a sick person returned and separated them with as much kindness as he had brought them together Brandon followed him that he might render him thanks for his favours and inform himself what was to be the issue of the Rancounter he had had with the Earl of Kildare whose wounds were not mortal But their discourse on that subject was not long The King who naturally concerned himself in the amours of every one wishing him only joy for the good opinion that a fair Princess was pleased to have of him took thereby occasion to rally with him because he had taken him for his Rival upon some words of Gallantry which escaped from him as he said whil'st he intended only to bewail the death of Cecile Then he upbraided him with the small trust he gave to his word and friendship that carried him so far as to resolve to leave him and confessing at length frankly that he had not caused him to be sent to the Tower but to revenge himself of that private affront and at the same time to discover what love could do in the heart of a young Princess it might seem that he had no more to say for his satisfaction But yet he stopped not there for finding in himself some secret joy which added somewhat to his natural debonairity and that it concerned the health of his Sister that Brandon should re-assume his former jollities that with more success he might employ himself in her Service he thought it not fit to dismiss him before he had dissipated the smallest mists which great affairs how well soever concluded leave commonly behind them No forrain nor remote matters disturbed him at that time and he had just then received good news from the Emperour who to begin the War against France promised to act on the Frontiers of Picardy which the wary King of Spain deferred to do on the side of Guyenne So that finding his mind in great liberty he gave Brandon a review of the life they had led together and laying before him almost all the Testimonies of Friendship that he had shewed him he forgot not amongst the rest to take special notice of the merit of that obliging manner whereby he had countenanced his love With that desiring a suitable return of Justice he cryed that it was his part to render it him adding that he knew not