pitied than you think of You know Madam continued the Prince that the misfortune of War having obliged me to flie for refuge to the Court of the King your Father I was no sooner arrived here but that I found what I had never seen elsewhere The men appeared to me extreamly civil and well bred and the Ladies to my Fancie performed all they set about with so good Air that I thought other Countries destitute of the Politeness which was to be found in France I made it my work to observe things more narrowly that I might from them frame to my self a pattern for my conduct but how dangerous is it so attentively to consider objects of great worth I saw a lovely Brown who ravished me with her charms and robbed me of my Heart Pardon me Madam if I tell you not all her Amiable qualities for it is above my power and nothing but my Heart is able to tell it self how many are her charming perfections I will only assure you by the by that never was Lady more Beautiful nor Witty and that as there is none in the World so accomplished so never was Passion more respectful and sincere than the Love I have for her With these words the Prince held his peace and the Princess who had Love enough for him to make her conceive some jealousie by that Discourse being desirous to discover who that Rival was I perceive said she Tudor you are discreet in your Amours for having told us the perfections of your Mistress you are pleased to conceal from us her name and your own happiness It is not for the reason that you imagine Madam answered Tudor that I tell you no more I understand my self and that was enough to keep me from having farther proceeded with the person of whom I spake In effect so great is the difference betwixt her merit and the defects of Tudor that I think he will never so much mistake himself as to dare speak to her of his passion That Lady must needs be of great quality replied Catharine being desirous to engage him to declare himself that a Prince stands in so great awe of her and for my part I know none that should oblige him to so great a reserve I am not of your opinion Madam replied Tudor and to my grief I know one who deserves that one should do greater matters for her But what do you mean by that replyed the Princess I mean Madam answered Tudor that my actions should make her sensible of my Love rather than my words and my satisfaction would be great if by all the ways of respect and submission I might ever engage that fair one to pitie me The Princess who imagined not before that Tudor designed her by his Discourse began now to suspect it and being willing to inform her self Prince said she this way of reasoning is not just if I were in your place I should take another course and a Lover that by his silence can work upon his Mistress never disobliges her by declaring his Love when he does it with all civility and respect In this Madam answered the Prince I have some doubts of your sincerity and perhaps you would be the first to take it ill if such a thing happened These words confirmed the Princess more and more in her suspicion she was desirous to have no more ground of doubting and speaking again Tudor said she I perceive you know me not I never speak but what I think and the aversion that I have made appear to the Marriage lately proposed to the King my Father ought to convince you that I am an Enemy to all kind of dissimulation That Discourse made Tudor change his design of concealing his Love he found that he could never meet with so fair an occasion of declaring himself and laying hold of the opportunity offered him by Fortune Well then Madam replied he I must believe you for indeed it would be too hard for me to keep my self longer under constraint and it is my duty to acknowledg my rashness in declaring that I adore you and that none but the Princess Catharine could ever touch the Heart of the Prince of Wales Believe it Madam this Heart is immoveable to all but your self and it is my Fate that a King of England should strip me of all my felicities but let him freely enjoy the fruits of my overthrow provided he suffer me to enjoy the sight of my dearest Princess Tudor said no more but made appear to Catharine so much Love in his Looks that she could no longer listen to the residue of an expiring stateliness which would have obliged her to disguise her Sentiments She made known to him by a Glance the Flame that was in her Heart and at length overcoming her own humour Alas why did you not speak sooner said she and why have you delayed so long to discover to me a matter which at another time would have pleased me so well Believe it Prince continued she I would willingly have heard you and perhaps had I never known you I should not have had so great an Aversion to match with England But after so free a confession entertain no sinister Judgment of me make use of it only to break off my Marriage consult your Friends and so manage Affairs that there may be a stop put to an Alliance which if it take effect will cost me the quiet of my whole Life Ah! Madam answered Tudor how happy do you make me by the goodness which you shew me but how short will this happiness prove by the obstacles I foresee therein For in a word what can I do in this conjuncture you know that the House of Orleans has at present the advantage of that of Burgundy to which I have addicted my self and that I have no authority with those that determine Affairs of that nature But have you your self no power left continued he to oppose that which thwarts your inclinations and must you demand assistance from one who expects his relief from you What would you have me do replyed the Princess and are you so ignorant of the duty of Persons of my Quality as not to know my Inability No Tudor expect no more from me I have an esteem and perhaps something more for you but I shall suffer my self to be led to the Sacrifice if it be so resolved and I had rather have it said that Catharine is Unfortunate than that she should be accused of failing in her duty Well then Madam replied Tudor it is your pleasure that I die I must obey you and that is indeed the only ease I find in my calamities Oppress me no more replied the Princess it is not well done to encrease my sorrows Bestir your self rather if you Love me Love has many secret ways of succeeding in enterprises and there is nothing impossible to those who truly feel it Here ended the Conversation of those two Amorous Persons they parted fully satisfied with
first to fall into some jealousie But giving way at length to his Reason over his Chimerical Fancies he not only advised the Princess to make use of the Dukes offers but prayed her likewise not to spare her prayers if there was need of them to incline him to break up that Conference which put him into despair Catharine having had the consent of Tudor made no more scruple and was resolved to make her thoughts known to the Duke the next visit that he should be pleased to render her However that Prince was not so fully determined what to do as the Princess was and though she had given him no ground of diving into her thoughts yet he judged that glory was more the cause of the resistance she testified than any inclination she had for the King his Brother And deliberating afterward if it would be more to his advantage that she should Marry that young Prince or that he should start difficulties to obstruct the Alliance he at first resolved to suffer the matter to take its course And thought it his interest rather to see Catharine Queen to his Brother than to leave her in France and be for ever deprived of the sight of her but seeing men commonly are not apt to renounce their hopes so long as they have any ground to entertain them the Duke of Glocester took suddenly a resolution quite contrary to the intention he seemed to be in a little before He considered with himself that he was not far from the Crown and backing a great deal of Love with a little Ambition he imagined that he might hope to enjoy himself what he was about to abandon to another if he suffered the Conference to proceed too far That consideration was enough to make him play his part but though in that he had a greater respect to his own than the interests of the Princess yet he was willing to give her the honour of it and having rendred her a Visit Well Madam said he after the usual Ceremonies that pass between persons of that quality Do you still continue in the opinion you were in the other day and do you believe that one is obliged in Ceremonie to do the quite contrary of what they desire You have had time added he to think on 't and considering your natural perspicacity Give me leave to tell you that it would be a head-strong obstinacy still to continue in the same thoughts You press me too hard replied the Princess and cannot you permit Sir that people should satisfie their duty without putting of them in mind what it may cost them I was willing to follow mine without looking back if you had not stopt me in my Career and Catharine had not known what it is to declare her will if a civil and obliging Prince had not perswaded her that it is necessary for her repose once in her Life to do so Yes Madam I tell you once more answered the Duke and I thank Heaven that in so important an action as this in agitation your eyes are opened Reflect a little upon the Crosses you were about to expose your self to by affecting a false virtue and how many times you would have accused your self of being the cause of your own pains How much is a Princess of your disposition to be pitied when she is constrained to put on the Fetters that Policie hath made and how much do I blame as to that the actions of the greatest men in the world who without minding their own inclination daily sacrifice themselves to a weak reason of state How dear do they buy added he that vain glory which they are willing to purchase at the cost of their heart and how often do they blame themselves for having deprived their own satisfaction of the delights that are to be tasted in an happy Union Ah! Madam continued the Duke is there any thing more sensible than these secret rebukes that men give themselves and when Persons have a right frame of Spirit and Discretion should they not pursue that sole pleasure which is to be found in a sincere and affectionate engagement Ah! Sir replied the Princess let us not I beseech you condescend on so many particulars I am afraid for a reason that concerns my self that I shall come off with trouble though there were not a great many more that might make me condemn my conduct which probably I may be the first my self to dislike We should not too much reflect on things to which our inclination rather than duty moves us and the way to make us again embrace them is to be convinced that we have unseasonably forsaken them I distrust not Madam the Justice of my Cause replied the Duke and I can maintain it against all men living but I shall say no more For your part Madam I only beg of you to consider that in the way of procedure that I intend to follow in respect of my King I ought not to be so much blamed as I shall quickly be because the Rules of Duty and Interest of Blood are of no value when a Man is smitten with so lovely Eyes as yours Believe it Madam the Intrigue of the Conference proceeds from them and if the Duke of Glocester had never seen them he would have had no other thoughts but to facilitate a good accommodation and to hinder the streams of Blood that will flow from this Rupture Ah! Good God Sir cried the Princess let matters continue as they are rather than I should be the cause of so many Calamities The disorders that will follow Madam are not to be imputed to you said the Duke for the Duke of Glocester has the greatest hand in them It is his affection that will suddenly be the cause of that which shall be seen by all Europe and his Love is so great as that of himself he would have produced these great effects though you had never given your consent to it I recall it Sir replied the Princess and I had rather spend my dayes in Sorrow than suffer so many people to become miserable for the Love of me Would to God Madam answered the Prince you had as much compassion for the Duke of Glocester as you have for those you know not and that what I really suffer might move you to as much pity as an Evil which is no where as yet but in the Imagination How willingly should I expose my self to troubles and how well should I be rewarded for it if the Princess Catharine might be one day heard say It is for my sake that the Duke of Glocester hath sacrificed his Country and he would have alwayes considered the Interests of his Prince as his own if he had never loved me But I am in the wrong added he Madam to desire rewards seeing as yet I have deserved none and I should be inexcusable were it not that by an anticipating Idea all the Services I intend to render you are so conspicuous and present in
from retaining any esteem for her he could not hear her named but with horrour All these considerations put her many times in trouble but virtue at length triumphs over weakness and at least it contributed to make her reject her resolutions which sometimes she had to listen to a clear information In the mean time Unfortunate Tudor found by degrees that his Crosses were too hard for him and there is nothing truer than that at length they would have ended his days had not an accident happened which revived in him some small hopes For some Moneths there had been at Court an Italian called Pavini who ventured at Fortune-telling and whose Reputation was in so much Vogue by many surprising things he had told to most part of the Nobility that he was lookt upon as a person of extraordinary knowledge He cast the Horoscope of the King of Enggland but that Prince had no cause to be pleased with it and that I may not trouble you with all the accidents of his Fortune it is enough I tell you that he assured him his Life would prove short his death extraordinary and that though he should not be killed yet he should have thousands of enemies to fight with who should never leave him till they put him in his Grave The Duke of Florence Brother to the King had the same curiosity as his Brother had had and his Fate was not more happy than Henry's he was to lose his Life in the first Battel that he should fight These Princes were not well pleased with such fatal predictions But as the Prophecy of the Italian concerning the Kings death seemed foolish so they were not much troubled thereat and they had no great apprehensions but when they considered that most of the things which he had foretold others were fulfilled But in a short time Pavini was fully believed for the Duke of Clarence was killed in an engagement which happened in Anjou between his Forces and the Troops of the Dolphin commanded by the Earl of Buchan whom that Prince had made Constable of France That accident made the knowledg of the Italian to be admired all people consulted him and Tudor who had slighted him was one of the first that heard him with greatest confidence This man encreased the confidence that Prince Tudor had in him by some particular things which he told him for being together in a Chamber and he having cast his figures and done all that his art required Seigneur said he I know not what to think of this figure you must needs be naturally inconstant and Fortune is pleased to treat you according to the disposition of your temper For I find that at this very instant there is a considerable Cross which puts you into despair and I see that you forget it immediately though no extraordinary alteration happen in your Affairs but there is an odder thing still that I must tell you you are betrayed by a person who loves you and who is so far from forsaking your concerns that that person cleaves as close to them as ever Pavini made some pawse afterward before he spake again but then renewing his Discourse Here is a thing Seigneur said he which much abates my wonder you have lately had a great Cross and yet not from your enemies for the person that is the cause of it takes it as ill as you do Unriddle this your self added he if you can for I confess for my part I understand nothing of it all that I can tell you plainly is that you are much in Love with some thing and that though you have lost all hopes of possessing it yet you shall though you expect no such matter But by that you are in danger of shortning your Life and have a care also that your death be not fatal Pavini told Tudor no more but what he said was enough to make him ponder matters for who could not be surprised and setting aside the point of Treason was not the rest so conform to that which had already happened that it might be easily understood He began then to promise himself better Fortune and that faint beam of hope finding a place in his mind it was quickly percieved that he had lost one half of his Melancholy Queen Catharine took notice of it as well as the rest She would needs know the cause thereof and having information that Pavini told all people that he had no more Skill in the Stars and that he lost all his measures in the Case of Tudor the Queen was curious to know what he had told that Prince thinking that it must of necessity be from that that he had taken comfort She sent for Pavini when she was all alone and having commanded him to inform her of that Princes Fortune he frankly confessed that it put him to a puzle and that he found great difficulty to conceive the meaning of the Figure he had cast for him He told her likewise all that he had said to Tudor and she could have interpreted a great part of it her self if she had pleased but she discovered not her thoughts to him and having employed him in something upon her own account she dismissed him Her Conversation with Pavini gave her occasion to reflect on his great Skill and perswading her self that he was infallible She found her self divided between discontent of having unjustly accused that Prince and Joy of knowing that he was not to be always Unfortunate But there were a great many things that suddenly thwarted that weak satisfaction She called to mind the Letter which she had and finding therein more appearance than in all the Skill of Pavini she reckoned his art sometime foppery and many times accused her self of too much credulity However she was in danger of taking the Princes part before she could wholly Sacrifice him to her suspicions if her virtue had not come to her Assistance and had not made her somewhat scrupulous in all that concerned him That thought alone made her absolutely condemn Tudor she was willing for her own Repose to think him guilty and for that bout she resisted all temptations that she had to come to a clearing with him But Pavini gave her suddenly occasion of obtaining another Victory over her self He cast the Horoscope of that Princess as she had ordered him he had a Mind to discourse with her and taking his opportunity for an audience without interruption Madam said he to her if I was amazed at the strange accidents that I found in the Fortune of Tudor I must freely tell you that I know not what to say of the things I have observed in yours for every thing in it appears to me more extraordinary than another But who would not be surprised as well as I when I see the greatest Princess in the World unhappy amidst her Grandures Yet that is nothing continued he and there are so many others who in a Condition not far from that you are in have had the
TUDOR A PRINCE OF WALES An Historical Novel In TWO PARTS LONDON Printed by H. H. for Jonathan Edwin at the Sign of the Three Roses on Ludgatehill 1678. Licensed Feb. 1. 1678. ROGER L'ESTRANGE TUDOR A PRINCE of WALES An Historical Novel The First Part. IT was about the Time when the War which had continued for so many Ages between the English and Welsh seemed to be put to an end and that these latter were believed for ever unable to retrive their losses or defend their pretensisions That Owen Tudor one of their Princes and whose Lineage they deduced from Cadwalladar an ancient British King endeavoured to mount the Throne He found it no difficult matter to perswade the Welsh to rise in Arms and that people dissatisfied with their new Masters were ready to shed the last drop of their Blood in attempting to shake off that Yoke Tudor was glad to find them so well inclined to the Execution of his desires but their Aid seeming too weak fully to support his hopes he betook himself to the Protection of the Kings of France and Scotland who resolved to second him in his enterprises Henry the Fourth newly Crowned King of England no sooner understood of the powerfull League that was formed against him but that he on his part prepared vigorously for War and having raised an Army of Forty thousand men he marched towards Scotland at the head of it where he met the enemy drawn up on the Borders He offered them Battel which was accepted but the Scots had the worst of the day Tudor was fain to flie for it and the Earl of Doughlas who commanded the Scots was made Prisoner by Henry The loss of that Battel put the Affairs of the Welsh Prince into a bad condition and finding no other support but in the friendship of Charles the Sixth King of France he retreated into his Dominions where that Monarch received him more favourably than he could have expected in his adversity The Grandee's of the Kingdom imitated their Prince and had so great respect for the merit of Tudor that their civilities were sufficient to have made him forget all his losses if he had proposed to himself any thing but Glory But it is very hard for such Souls as are born to command to find satisfaction any other way than in the submission and obedience of Provinces and that Prince would have willingly preferred the Crown of Wales to all the Favours and Civilities which he received at the Court of Charles Wherefore he did all he could to procure from him assistance But France was not at that time what before it had been and after the unlucky accident which befell their King and is mentioned in History the Kingdom was so rent by the different interests of the Princes of the Blood that it had enough to do to maintain it self Tudor thus crossed in his designs bore his misfortune but not without much impatience yet that was not all Fate had new troubles in reserve for him and he had never been sensible of the utmost effects of ill fortune if he had not felt the pains which commonly attend a great but hopeless Love Charles had several Children by his Queen Isabell of Bavaria and Catharine his youngest Daughter was justly esteemed one of the greatest Beauties and most lovely persons that hath ever been The Lustre of her presence surprized all that beheld her and her Actions were accompanied with so many Charms that no heart was proof against her merit Her Body was not inferiour to the Beauties of her Countenance and in a word she seemed to have been framed on purpose to inspire into Hearts the tenderest of Passions Tudor at first beheld her with admiration but seeing his Fortune had no Conformity with high designs his reason at that time retained its authority and that Princes thoughts were taken up as much at least with the sense of his Calamities as with the Consideration of the perfections of Catharine However he had a Heart like other Men and he must needs have been of a very savage disposition if seeing daily the Princess he had not been affected by her Beauty He began to be a little more Melancholick than he used to be or to say better he changed his Melancholy into a sweet and restless pensiveness and such as men commonly fall into when a great passion begins to seize them He well percieved in himself this change of humour and was displeased thereat yet not so much as he would have been had he fully known the cause of it However he made some reflexions on the complaisance that he had for the Princess and seemed indeed to have touched the right string when he helped to beguile himself In effect after so many marks of goodness as Catharine had shewed him he thought there could be no great danger in those little offices which he rendred her and which he believed to be rather testimonies of Gratitude than Love but the effects which great obligations produce are easily known and though they make deep impression on generous Souls yet all things have their limits and it is no hard matter to distinguish that which flows from Love from the effects of a Heart that is only grateful Neither did Tudor long continue in his error and the earnest desire he had to be in all places where Catharine was convinced him that civility did not commonly lead men so far but that some extraordinary matter must needs have invaded his thoughts That consideration made him afraid so that endeavouring to prevent the troublesome consequences that might ensue from it He employed all means to stifle his Affection in the Birth and proposed to his own Imagination every thing that might represent to him the fatal effects of that attempt But none but such as have never been in Love can think that from such like enterprises any success is to be expected and experience does too plainly evince that Love is like to those snares wherein the more men strive to get out the more they entangle themselves Tudor had the same Fate as others have had and all his reasonings served only to render him more Amorous The Charms of Catharine presenting themselves in vast numbers to his memory he conceived so agreeable an Idea of the Princesses perfections as suddenly got the absolute Victory over his weakness He found a Thousand delights in the conversation of that fair one and in her Company he so much forgot the thoughts os all his misfortunes that his greatest care was how he might appear agreeable to her Eyes He was no more Tudor whom ambition tormented Day and Night and that Passion which had so cruelly racked his Heart since the first time that he had given way to it gave place to those Sentiments which to tender and affectionate Souls have far greater charms than the most glorious and magnificent Crowns But how said that Prince sometimes to himself Dost thou consider Tudor what thou art about
the fame mutual affection for one another without proceeding farther and that I should by that means preserve one who is dear unto me and not expose him to the destiny wherewith he is threatned by my embraces Ah! Madam replied the Prince if any of the two ought to tremble it should only be Tudor and he it is that must die but he sets no such value on Life as to refuse to give it if it be by that Sacrifice alone that he can deserve so great a Blessing as that which you have promised him and I should not pay enough for that I prise though I should end my days an hour after that you had given me real proofs of your kindness Ah! Tudor answered the Queen put me not in mind that I am to lose you that is a thing that represents it self so cruelly to me that I cannot but at present feel the sensible effects of it and can one be separated from what they Love and survive their grief Have you still these thoughts Madam and do you believe the predictions of Pavini replied Tudor Do you not remember that you are not to be the least troubled at my death I am not so unjust to my Princess as to believe it and considering the goodness she has been pleased to testifie to me I am perswaded on the contrary that her Fate would depend on mine and that if she should not die by the same blow that sent me to my grave she would at least lye under so great affliction and sorrow that such a Life as she would afterward lead should be reckoned a real death You do me right Tudor answered the Queen and what you have now said to me fully confirms me No Pavini is Dim-sighted as to the future and the Prince of Wales cannot meet with the least misfortune but that I shall resent it as bitterly as he Let us compleat what Destiny intends for us and let us endeavour to render our Fortune happy by preventing those things which may replunge us into Crosses such as those that we have lately past Whilst the Queen was so well disposed for Tudor Fortune prepared new impediments to their Love The Duke of Glocester who was still taken up in the Wars since the conference at Meulan was chosen for the Command and Government of Affairs in England during the minority of Henry the Sixth his Nephew who was but as yet an Infant in the Cradle That Prince accepted the Commission with Joy and the more willingly inclined to the Journey in that he retained still for the Queen the same Sentiments that he felt at first sight of her In effect he no sooner saw her again but that his flames were powerfully revived in his Breast She seemed more beautiful to him than all that ever he had seen and seeing his quality of Regent obliged him to speak frequently with her these many Conversations made him quickly passionately in Love He prevented that Princess in granting all that he thought she might desire and became in a word so civil and obliging that it was very hard not to entertain an esteem for him Nevertheless the Queen was so far from being pleased with that complaisance that she was much troubled at it so soon as she discovered the cause and she observed such a Conduct with him that she always endeavoured to avoid the occasions which he sought to discourse to her of his Love But all that Circumspection was unprofitable and on a day when they had had a conference concerning some matters of State wherein the Queen told the Duke that he had very well discharged his duty You give me said he Madam praises which are not due to me and I have contributed far less than you to the success of what I have told you The Queen not knowing what to make of that How Prince replied she unfold to me that Riddle and what hand can I have had in a matter whereof I did not so much as know That hindered not Madam answered the Duke but that you wished that it might succeed as it did and it was enough for the Duke of Glocester knowing your intentions fully to comply with them I am much obliged to you replied the Queen but I shall refer all that if you please to the Zeal which you have for the Service of the King and I shall like it as well You are in the wrong Madam answered the Duke not to take it as done for your sake alone and you should believe that Love will be always more powerful in my Heart than all the Sentiments of Nature and Duty I am forced to tell you continued he that I am nothing changed from what you saw me at Meulan But be not alarmed at this Madam I have no thoughts that may give you cause of complaint and I know very well that that which hath happened since my fatal departure hinders me from having any thing to pretend to more However I Love you not with less Sincerity than if I had ground to believe that you would one day render me happy Pitie so wretched a Lover Madam who though his Passion be so violent yet is still so respectful as to conceive nothing contrary to the virtue of a Princess whom I shall adore with such Sentiments as long as I live These words gave the Queen some comfort and having considered a little what answer she should give him she at length in this manner broke her silence You ought not to doubt Sir but that the knowledg you give me of your passion causes me much trouble and you oblige me to have so great an esteem for you that I cannot forbear to wish you a better Fortune than that to which you expose your self Consider what it is to Love without hope and I am assured that if you reflect upon it as you ought you will ease your self of a great many troubles that you are about to create both to your self and me if you persist in that unhappy passion I am not now Madam replied the Duke to make that reflection I have used all arguments with my self to overcome my own weakness But to be short it is too hard for me and after a Thousand attempts all that I can gain upon my self is to admire you as a Lover full of tender affection and to speak to you as a man who is hindered by sacred ties to tell you all he thinks Believe it Madam I can reconcile most respectful words with most languishing looks and nothing but my Eyes shall ever testifie to my Princess that the Unfortunate Duke of Glocester is born to love her with extream Passion Ah! Prince answered the Queen banish those Sentiments which abuse you and do you not percieve that you already begin a discourse contrary to the resolution you have taken and that you declare your Love at the same time you promise me never to speak more of it I had not been aware of it Madam replied the Duke if you