Moreover, he had proceeded so far in the business, that if not
successful Lady Castlemaine would be subjected to all imaginable
contempt, and be exposed to universal ridicule. If, he added,
the queen conformed to his wishes in this regard, it would be the
only hard thing he should ever require of her; and, indeed, she
might make it very easy, for my lady must behave with all
possible respect in her presence, otherwise she should never see
his face again. Then he begged the chancellor to wait upon her
majesty, lay bare his arguments, and urge her to receive the
countess with some show of favour. The chancellor, though not
pleased with his mission, yet in hope of healing private discord
and averting public scandal, undertook to counsel the queen to
obedience, and accordingly waited on her in her private
apartments.
Now her majesty's education had been such as kept her in complete
ignorance of the world's ways. The greater part of her life had
been spent in the peaceful retirement of a convent, which she
left for her mother's country palace, a home scarcely less
secluded. Maynard, in a letter preserved in the State Paper
Office, written from Lisbon when the royal marriage was proposed,
says the infanta, "as sweete a disposition princess as everr was
borne," was "bred hugely retired. She hath," he continues,
"hardly been tenn tymes out of the palace in her life. In five
years tyme she was not out of doores, untill she hurde of his
majestie's intentions to make her queen of Ingland, since which
she hath been to visit two saintes in the city; and very shortly
shee intends to pay her devotion to some saintes in the country.
Pages:
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147