one another but with small hopes of a better Fortune In the mean time Tudor spread reports at Court that the Marriage of Henry and Catharine was no wayes advantageous for France That that Prince was but the Son of an Usurper that the House of York which was dispossessed of the Crown was still strong enough to regain the Scepter and that in Fine the last words of the dying King to his Son should make him rather think of giving back what he had gotten than of demanding such ridiculous matters as were proposed by his Ambassadours I cannot tell whether these rumours that were in every bodies mouth made any impression on the Counsel or that the pretensions of the King of England seemed not very reasonable But in a word his Ministers returned without effectuating any thing It is hard to imagine how great the joy of our Lovers was but they failed not to make it known to one another in its full extent and by mutual assurances of Love began to forget their past troubles when of a sudden they found themselves more than ever exposed to the cruelty of Fortune Henry incensed at the refusal of giving him Catharine in Marriage leavied a powerful Army He landed in Normandy where he put all to Fire and Sword and having taken some places by the way he marched towards Callis He fought a great Battel at Agincourt and obtained the Victory afterward he wasted all Picardy laid Siege to the Citie of Roan and there was no doubt but that he would have carried it had not they who had the Administration of the Affairs of France being surprized at so many Conquests endeavoured in good earnest to find means to put a stop to that Victorious Prince And finding no more ready remedy for the Calamities that threatned their Country than to appease the Rage of the Conquerour Ambassadours were sent to his Camp to beg Peace of him and to offer him Catharine This was a cruel Blow for our Lovers and the sorrow that appeared on their Countenance gave signs enough if it had been observed that both were extreamly troubled Well then Princess said Tudor one day to Catharine now is the time come that I must lose you and Fate has only given me a little Reprieve to let me know the greatness of that felicitie which it had appointed for another Why have you not been altogether Cruel Continued he or rather why are you but kind by halves and how can it be that one tenderly Loves as you profess and in the mean time resolves to forsake the beloved object Ah! Tudor be sparing in your censures replied the Princess my afflictions are too great that I should need other pressures and your reproaches are too unjust that I should suffer them and survive my grief Let us be unhappy if Heaven hath so decreed but let us not contribute any thing that may make us lose the esteem which we have for one another You in giving me Counsels that go against my Reputation and I in listening to them I am already but too much enclined to believe you continued she to make me distrust my strength and I have so often represented to my self the pleasure that I might have had in living with you that I am much afraid I shall project to my self nothing but horrours with all besides your self if you still persist to bring them to my mind Help me rather to overcome my self and believe Prince that this is the occasion wherein one really deserves pity seeing after all the effects of my Virtue I stand in need still of assistance to overcome my weakness I confess Madam answered the Prince I must admire you for these Sentiments and grant them to proceed from the most generous Princess that ever was but grant me likewise that if I have not so great a Soul yet I have perhaps more tenderness than you have I am in the wrong added he to press you so much and it is misbecoming a Prince who has no other Fortune but in his hopes to desire to snatch from a Princess a Crown which is in her offer it has certainly more charms than one is aware of and it must needs be of small value if it were to be forsaken for the forlorn estate of Tudor These words which he uttered with some sullenness made the Princess sensible he was jealous she was willing to cure him of that fatal passion and looking on him with an obliging Aspect What is it Prince said she that you suspect me of and what signs of Ambition have I given you that you should think me so much inclined to it as you make me to be Banish such thoughts far from you if you love your own repose and if you will give your self any trouble for mine hinder the success of that Treaty which is to be set on foot at the interview of the two Kings You may do somewhat in that matter and you are in so good terms with the House of Burgundy which is now again restored to the Government of the State that with the help of that Family you may hope to succeed in your undertaking These words reassured the Prince who casting himself at her feet Pardon Madam said he an Unfortunate Lover who knows not whom to blame for his Calamities and consider that it is very difficult to be deeply in Love and not to be a little jealous Believe me my dear Princess I shall employ all the Friends I have to hinder that fatal Marriage and I have so great interest in it as may I think make you believe that I shall omit nothing which may contribute to it's repture At the same time he took leave of her and went straight to the Palace of the Duke of Burgundy where he found that Prince more afflicted for the Calamities of France than he expected and perceiving him resolved to employ his utmost endeavours to hinder its ruin I rejoyce my Lord said he at your good intentions and doubt not of the Kingdoms safety now that you make it your care But remember that there depends much on diligence in preventing a disadvantageous Treaty to which the weakness of the King will it may be oblige him and which will not be easily remedied if once concluded You have reason Prince answered the Duke of Burgundy but there are many things to be done before I can be in a condition to act as I should What greater matters are to be done then replied Tudor and if you were reconciled with the Dolphin might ye not Unite your Forces and make head against the common Enemy of your Country Yes answered the Duke but the difficulty will be to bring us to good terms together I shall endeavour it if you please replied Tudor and am perswaded that I shall not meet with so many Lets in it as you imagine You will thereby oblige me replied the Duke and I shall be always ready to do all that my honour and duty can allow Tudor thereupon
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
left him that he might go to the Dolphin and having found him in the same disposition that he had left the Duke of Burgundy in he made them Friends in appearance and retarded for some time at least his own misfortune The reconciliation of these two Princes put France in some hopes again Yet it hindered not but that the two Kings upon a cessation of Arms attended by the chief of their Court met in the Park of Meulan where they resolved to have a conference for facilitating the peace The Queen followed after and carried the Princess with her The English beheld her with admiration and there were but few of them that found not by experience how dangerous it is too narrowly to consider an amiable person But amongst all those who admired her Beauty no man was certainly more sensibly smitten than the Duke of Glocester that Prince who was Brother to the King of England and by his Rank and Quality at Court had the greatest share in the management of Affairs no sooner viewed Catharine but was charmed by her perfections He resolved at first to acquaint her with the Sentiments he entertained for her and seeing the marriage of the Princess was to be one of the first Articles of the Treaty then in agitation he thought he had no time to lose in taking a good resolution And therefore having rendred a visit to the Queen he discoursed with Catharine in a place where their conversation could not be overheard It is so hard Madam said he to her to see you and not to feel some particular emotion that I think I shall not much surprise you when I tell you that you have before you a Prince who is absolutely at your disposal It is not added he by the multitude of words that I pretend to make good what I say my actions shall far better make known to you my Sentiments than all the discourses that I can make Consider only Madam wherein you think fit to employ me and believe that I have so much authority in the Conference that is held to day as to sway matters to what side I shall incline The Princess was surprised at that Compliment and having expected no such thing nor well understood the meaning of it she was for some time put to a plunge what answer to make to the Duke But having at length paused upon it a little Really Prince said she you are the most obliging person alive It is seldom found that enemies offer to turn their arms against themselves however you run no Risk on this occasion I am none of those that will to your cost make advantage of your civilities and study the interest of my Country by an action which would somewhat diminish your glory I perceive Madam answered the Duke that I have not expressed my self so as to be understood It is not in favour of the King your Father that I have offered you my Services in this place and I am less concerned for the Interests of my Princes Crown than for those of his heart It is needless I think to explain my self more clearly consult about that which may affect yours and if the designs which Henry hath on your person have nothing in them that can flatter you I make no difficulty Madam to tell you I know how to satisfie you and a Prince who would give his life to contribute in the least to your content will not find great difficulty to divert the blow which may render you unhappy I am still more obliged to you than I thought replied the Princess since you confine to me alone the Sentiments which I extended to others But in fine Prince though my inclinations were contrary to the Alliance that is in agitation to day you know that it would be undecent for me to discover them and that a Princess of my quality ought with pleasure sacrifice her self to the publick good Have a care Madam of being mistaken replyed the Prince and embrace not the shadow of virtue for virtue it self I know very well added he that when one hath once made a choice all pains are to be endured rather than to give any mark of repentance but the case is not a like in a matter that is not as yet concluded and untill it be finally ended we may forbear such things as would cost us the repose of our Life if we did them contrary to our inclination There is nothing Sir an-answered Catharine which is inconsistent with the inclination of a Princess and the hearts of Persons of that quality should be of the nature of Wax whereon Princes may stamp all that they judge advantageous for the grandure of their Crowns These are indeed brave Sentiments Madam replied the Duke of Glocester but Destiny sometimes opposes so great generosity and seeing it inspires into us Love and Aversion according as it pleases we find often in our selves hatred for that which is appointed for us and have often also an inclination for the thing we are denied It were far better Madam added he to render your self Mistress of your own fortune and without seeming to affect any thing in particular as you may do to day to make use of the assistance that is offered you that you may perhaps thereby prevent your own misfortune How Prince replied Catharine have I nothing but appearances to answer for and can a Princess be satisfied with her self when she can upbraid her self with such an escape In fine Madam answered the Duke I see you are not to be convinced by my reasons and that it is as easie for you to overcome me in conversation as it was to triumph on my heart but consider a little what I have said to you and think not that so small a matter from which you are to expect all the happiness or misery of your Life As he made an end of these words he rose and having made a low reverence retired to the Camp and left Catharine in a musing fit into which the discourse of that Prince had cast her She bethought her self what it might be that could make him speak in that manner and making no doubt but that it was some small esteem that he had for her She found her self in great perplexity what course to take in that conjuncture For on the one hand she would not have been vexed if there had been no progress made in the Conference and on the other she would have been glad to have had no obligation to the Duke and not to have been exposed to a complaisance which he would certainly have expected from her if he had once found himself in a condition of doing her service She would not trust her own Judgment as to the resolution which she ought to take concerning that but writ an account to Tudor who was obliged to stay at Paris of the conference she had had with the Duke Though that Lover had ground to praise the carriage of Catharine yet he could not forbear at
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