Volume Ii Part 62 (1/2)
236
MARGARET PASTON TO JOHN PASTON[300.1]
_To my right wurs.h.i.+pfull hosbond, John Paston, be this delyveryd in hast._
[Sidenote: 1454(?) / JAN. 29]
Right wors.h.i.+pfull hosbond, I recommawnd me to yow, praying yow to wete that I spak yistirday with my suster,[300.2] and she told me that she was sory that she myght not speke with yow or ye yede; and she desyrith if itt pleased yow, that ye shuld yeve the jantylman, that ye know of, seche langage as he myght fele by yow that ye wull be wele w.i.l.l.yng to the mater that ye know of; for she told me that he hath seyd befor this tym that he conseyvid that ye have sett but lytil therby, wherefor she prayth yow that ye woll be here G.o.de brother, and that ye myght have a full answer at this tym whedder it shall be ya or nay. For her moder hath seyd to her syth that ye redyn hens, that she hath no fantesy therinne, but that it shall com to a j.a.pe; and seyth to her that ther is G.o.de crafte in dawbyng; and hath seche langage to her that she thynkyt right strange, and so that she is right wery therof, wherefor she desyrith the rather to have a full conclusyon therinne. She seyth her full trost is in yow, and as ye do therinne, she woll agre her therto.
Mayster Braklee[300.3] be her yisterday to have spoke with yow; I spak with hym, but he wold not tell me what his erond was.
It is seyd her that the cescions shall be at Thetford on Saterday next komyng, and ther shall be my Lord of Norffolk and other with grette pupill [_people_], as it is seyd.
Other tydyngs have we none yett. The blissefull Trynyte have yow in his kepyng. Wretyn at Norwyche, on the Tewysday next befor Candelma.s.se.
I pray yow that ye woll vowchesawf to remembr to purvey a thing for my nekke, and to do make my gyrdill.
Yowris,
M. P.
My cosyn Crane recommawndeth her to yow, and praytth yow to remembr her mater, &c., for she may not slepe on nyghtys for hym.
[Footnote 300.1: [From Fenn, iii. 170.] The request made at the end of this letter that John Paston would procure his wife an ornament for her neck, is noted by Fenn as one that she had made in April 1452, and of which this was probably a repet.i.tion nine months afterwards. There seems no better evidence of date to go by, so we follow the same mode of inference; but as we have placed the letter containing the first pet.i.tion for the necklace in 1453 instead of 1452, we must attribute this letter to the year 1454.]
[Footnote 300.2: Elizabeth Paston.]
[Footnote 300.3: John Bracklee or Brackley was a brother of the Convent of Grey Friars, or Friars Minors, in Norwich. He took a Doctor of Divinity's degree, and was a famous preacher.--F.]
237
AGNES PASTON TO JOHN PASTON[301.1]
_Thys letter be delyverd to John Paston, dwellyn in the Inder In of the Tempyll at London, in hast._
[Sidenote: About 1454]
I grete yow well, and lete yow wete that thys day I was with my doughtyr yor wyfe, and che was in good hele att the makyn of thys letter, thankyd be G.o.d! and sche lete yor sustyr and me wete of a letter wheche ye sent hyr, that ye have be laboryd to for Ser William Oldhall to have your sustyr, and desyryng in the seyd letter to have an answer in schort tyme, who [_how_] sche wyll be demenyd in thys mater.
Yor suster recomaundyt hyr to yow, and thankyt yow hertyly that ye wyll remembyr hyr, and lete hyr have knowleche ther of, and prayt yow that ye wyll do your dever to bryng it to a good conclusyon; for sche seythe to me that sche trystyt that ye wyll do so, that it xall be bothe for hyr worchup and profyt. And as for me, if ye can thynke that hys lond standyt cler, in as meche as I fele your sustyr well wyllyd ther to, I hold me well content.
And as for the oblygacyon of the persen of Marlynferthe, wheche I sent yow by John Newman, I pray yow lete it be suyd; and as for the Parson and Lyndesey, they be a cordyd. And G.o.d have yow in kepyn, and send yow hys blyssyn and myn. Wretyn at Norwyche on Pulver Wedenesday.[302.1]
Be yor moder,
AUGNES PASTON.
[Footnote 301.1: [From Fenn, iii. 188.] This letter refers to a proposal for Paston's sister which was probably in or a little before 1454, as in a letter of the 15th July in that year Paston states that several such offers had been under consideration.]
[Footnote 302.1: If in 1454, Ash-Wednesday was the 6th of March.]