Part 9 (2/2)

[Sidenote: Curiosity of the ladies.]

[Sidenote: The stranger's reserve.]

The other ladies were very curious to solve the mystery of this case, but they could not obtain any clew to it. The stranger was very reserved, mingled very little with her new companions, and evinced a constant desire to avoid observation. There was something, however, in her beauty, and in the expression of deep and constant grief which her countenance wore, which made her an object of great interest to all the household of the queen, but they could not learn any particulars of her history. The facts, however, were these.

[Sidenote: Her story.]

Her real name was Anne Neville. She was the daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, one of the leading and most highly-connected n.o.blemen in England. When she was about fifteen years old she was married to a relative of the family. The marriage, however, proved a very unhappy one. Her husband was very jealous of her. From her subsequent conduct it would seem probable that he might have had good reason to be so. At any rate, he was extremely jealous; and as he was of a harsh and cruel temper, he made his young wife very miserable by the exactions and privations which he enforced upon her, and by the violent invectives with which he continually a.s.sailed her.

[Sidenote: Her unhappy marriage.]

The incessant anxiety and suffering which these troubles occasioned soon began to prey upon the lady's health, and, at length, her father, observing that she was growing pale and thin, began to inquire into the cause. He soon learned what a dreadful life his daughter was leading. Like most of the other great n.o.bles of those days, he was a man of violent character, and he immediately determined on rescuing his daughter from her husband's power, for he considered her husband as the party chiefly, if not wholly, to blame.

[Sidenote: Her marriage dissolved.]

[Sidenote: Pretext.]

[Sidenote: Her marriage annulled.]

He ascertained, or pretended to ascertain, that there had been some informalities connected with the marriage. His daughter was distantly related to her husband, and there were certain steps which it was necessary to take in such cases to obtain a dispensation from the Church, in order to render such marriage legal. These steps he now alleged had not been properly taken, and he immediately inst.i.tuted proceedings to have the marriage annulled. Whether there was really any sufficient ground for such annulling, or whether he obtained the decree through influences which his high position enabled him to bring to bear upon the court, I do not know. He, however, succeeded in his purpose. The marriage was annulled, and his daughter returned home; and, in order to obliterate as far as possible all traces of the unhappy union into which she had been drawn, she dropped the name which she had received from her husband and resumed again her own maiden name.

[Sidenote: She becomes free.]

She now began soon to appear at court, where she almost immediately attracted great attention. On account of the peculiar circ.u.mstances in which she was placed, she enjoyed all the privileges of a widow, combined with the attractiveness and the charms of a lovely girl.

Almost every body was ready to fall in love with her.

[Sidenote: Her admirers.]

Among her other admirers was the Duke of Somerset. He was a man of high rank and of great accomplishments, but he was married, and he could not, therefore, innocently make her the object of his love. He was not, however, deterred by this consideration, and he soon succeeded in making a strong impression upon Lady Neville's heart.

They soon contrived means of meeting each other in private, resorting to all sorts of manoeuvres and inventions to aid them in keeping their guilty attachment to each other from the knowledge of those around them.

[Sidenote: The Duke of Gloucester.]

In the mean while, the Duke of Gloucester himself, who was now, however, considerably advanced in life, lost his wife, she dying about this time, and he almost immediately conceived the idea of making Lady Neville her successor. He thought it not proper to say any thing to Lady Neville herself on this subject until some little time should have elapsed, but he spoke to her father, the Earl of Salisbury, who readily approved of the plan. Gloucester was at this time prime minister of England, and the lady whom he should choose for his wife would be elevated by her marriage to the highest pinnacle of grandeur.

Of course, the importance and influence of her father also, and of all the members of her family, would be greatly increased by so splendid an alliance.

[Sidenote: Splendid prospect.]

So it was agreed that the match should be made, but the arrangement was to be kept secret, not only from the public, but from the intended bride herself, until a suitable time should have elapsed for the widower to recover from the grief which the death of his former wife was supposed to have occasioned him.

[Sidenote: Gloucester's declaration.]

At length, when the proper time for mourning had expired, Gloucester made his declaration of love. Lady Neville listened to it, thinking all the time what Somerset would say when she came to communicate the news to him. She did communicate it to him on the first opportunity.

[Sidenote: Perplexity of Lady Neville.]

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