the tenderness of these Lovers is sufficiently known and that their pains rather than pleasures are to be related since that amidst trouble and difficulties the greatness and power of Love appears more conspicuous After so fair beginnings they wanted not crosses and all that had befallen them before the War from the competition of Gray Bourchier and Sommerset from the Kings indifferency after the death of Cecile Blunt or from the aggression of the Earl of Kildare followed by an Imprisonment which the secret Quality of a Prince of York rendered the more dangerous All this I say bears no proportion with what they endured afterward Upon the return from the War of France all people imagining that Brandon who had acquired so much Glory there should espouse the Princess Mary when they saw him only made Duke of Suffolk and nothing else talked of they believed that his fortune was at a stand and that in that respect there had been more policy than friendship in the Conduct of the King There is but little certainty in the opinions of men all is but whimsey There was no more discourse therefore of his Intelligence with Mary of England nor of the services he rendered her On the contrary they began both to be pitied as two perfect Lovers cruelly and unjustly dealt with But whilst people thus favoured them with their good opinions a tranquil serenity gave jealousie time to rise to a head against them This new Quality of Duke of Suffolk which rendered him a suitable match to the chiefest Ladies at Court made in effect many of them cast their thoughts that way because it was believed that he had attained to the greatest height that he could expect So that the lovely Lucretia Tilney being of a Quality and Fortune answerable to his merit the Princess had no sooner taken notice of the civilities which Suffolk rendered her to please the King only who designed her for his Mistris but that she immediately imagined they were the effects of Love So that she became jealous to that extremity into which true Lovers commonly fall of a sudden She spake not a word of this to her faithful Judith Kiffen from whom she had never concealed any thing but the secret of Brandon's Birth who not knowing what to think of the alteration that he perceived in her essayed for some days to discover that in her eyes which was quite contrary to what was in her heart That extreme respect might have provoked any other besides Mary of England and there are but few Lovers who in the fury of jealousie would not have taken it for indifferency But as she only loved because she was beloved so she made the best use of the various Sentiments that attend love She always devised arguments to excuse the inconstancy that she complained of and by strongest reason drawn from the stock of most tender affection she sometimes perswaded her self that the effects which she had caused in the heart of Brandon whilst he was but nothing were not to be expected from the Duke of Suffolk He loved me said she as the Daughter and Sister of his King He hath used me as a pleasant apparation to entertain his idle thoughts whilst he had none that were serious and now that he is what he deserves to be he applies himself to that which he may obtain If thou wert not of the blood of Lancaster continued she and could he promise himself of thee what he thinks he may expect of another he would love thee still as he hath loved thee and over-love thee And thereupon giving way to the mild Sentiments by which the pretended infidelity of Suffolk might be justified Let us pardon then said she let us pardon him for an injury which respect and fear only makes him commit against our love Let us do justice to that tender affection whereof we have received so great Testimonies this is probably the perfectest instance that he could render us and it costs him doubtless too dear to be undervalued by unjust suspitions But jealousie usurping again the dominion over her heart such lofty reasonings did not at all satisfie her She had much a-do to conceive how a Lover could renounce the thing he loves and then concluding that love which always slights and gets above reason and decorum is not so tame she found her self much disposed to judg no more in favour of Suffolk Besides his true extraction more and more fortified her jealousie and thinking that the reasons which she allowed to Brandon or Duke of Suffolk did not so well suit with a Prince of York what appeared to her to be an excess of love or discretion in the one had not the same character in the other And the very Glory which he had acquired in France made his present Conduct a little suspicious to her She saw him so well supported by his own worth that she could not but sometimes think that he intended to build his Fortune thereon and as the King appeared so much the less favourable to their Union that he had seemed much inclined to it before and that he reflected on it very seriously so the services that the Duke of Suffolk rendered to the lovely Tilney which jealousie made appear far more assiduous than they were though all was but an effect of complaisance made her often enraged against her self and condemn all her own goodness At length after a long conflict within her self so great as to make her compare her own marvelous and rare perfections with the ordinary and indifferent Qualities of her pretended Rival as she loved to the utmost extent of love and that her jealousie was altogether gentle and sublime and had nothing ragged nor low she found her self reduced to a necessity of speaking But she did it with so expressive and sensible an air that she had hardly opened her mouth when Suffolk by her first word discovering the cause of that discontent which he could not guess at needed no more but a single sigh to allay her trouble Their Sentiments as well as looks were soon agreed and they expressed themselves so intelligibly in that manner and understood one another so well that being both fully satisfied and fixing their eyes on one another for some time they needed no other language to speak their thoughts Suffolk being ravished to see himself so dear to the Princess as to inspire into her jealousie seemed by silence and other signs of submission to thank her for such a new favour which he never believed himself able to deserve But at length he broke that so eloquent silence to complain of her too much reservedness and the Princess perceiving that his complaint was just and she in kindness obliged to suffer it made appear by a most engaging blush that she desired he should not persist therein So that love which lays hold on all occasions to make Lovers speak raising an officious contest betwixt them on that subject was the cause that the
most glorious passion was the desire to reign over the most illustrious people of the Universe He went farther to encourage her by pretending that his own interest was therein concerned and as if he had been the most covetous of all men who was indeed the most liberal he seemed only then possessed with the hopes of the great riches that he expected from her Crown The soul must without doubt be great which can love in that strain and ordinary passions are unable to renounce themselves in that manner But the fair Princess to whom he rendered so rare an instance of a perfect love repayed it by another no less wonderful on her part The Crown of France seemed nothing to her in respect of Suffolks heart and being sensible to the utmost of the unspeakable pleasure that is found in being loved as one loves that was to her so Soveraign a blessing that no other earthly advantage could equal it She disputed therefore with him the possession of his heart which she desired still to enjoy as he contended for the loss of hers which he was willing she should deprive him of and her lovely eyes bore already the marks of the wrong which the tears she shed did them The King between whose arms she had cast her self to bewail and to overcome the virtue of Suffolk knew no more how to govern sometime the one sometime the other As she had been accustomed to conceal from him nothing of her passion and as it may be said that he was the sole confident of her Love so neither had he been wanting to her in any comfort or remedy He made her the Mistris of her self and being ready to repass into France at the head of an Army under divers pretexts to renew the War there he desired no better than to trouble all Europe that he might re-establish Tranquillity in her heart But it was not enough for these great Remedies to produce their effect that they were prepared by the hand of the King and accepted by the Princess Suffolk must likewise approve and make use of them If they were good for her they seemed of no value to him He condemned them already and found fault with them every way He designed to arm against them protesting at what rate soever to oppose them and the Amorous Princess had to do with a Lover that desired nothing more than to triumph over himself that he might Crown her This violent state of affairs lasted two full Months and no body understood the secret The melancholy of the Princess was imputed to a dispute that she had had with the Queen concerning the Dutchess of Salisbury The Court was divided betwixt them upon that account and the King fomented their division that he might the better conceal the Amorous mystery whereof he was the Guardian when that the proposals of the Duke of Longueville were again renewed with such formalities as suffered them not to be rejected The Pope wrote to that purpose The Venetians concerned themselves therein John Duke of Albany Regent of Scotland during the Minority of the King his Nephew interested himself in the affair with all the earnestness that the concerns of his Pupil required and these so distant Potentates in this manner formed an Union in opinions to make a most cruel War against the Resolutions of the Princess Mary but what deference soever the King of England was obliged to have for so considerable solicitations though besides that the alliance of LOWIS the Twelfth was of such moment that it could not be rejected by a sober Prince nevertheless the compassion that he had for his Sister the high esteem that he made of Suffolk and his natural propensity to all intrigues of Love would have made him find out ways enough to elude the suit of the one and the importunities of the rest if the continual perfidies of the King of Spain his Father-in-law had not in a manner forced him to comply That cunning Prince having drawn the late Pope Julius into the League whereof the English were at all the charge and the Spaniards reaped all the profit began to deceive him in the first Pyrenean War He seized on the Kingdom of Navar not minding the English Forces which he had perswaded to Land at Bayonne and who finding themselves disappointed of their hopes of being able to gain the places which he promised them in Guyenne were constrained to return Since that he had broken his word to him at the Sieges of Therowenne and Tournay where he neither assisted him with men nor money and had of late again made a truce with LOWIS the Twelfth without his advice So that to all these injuries joyning the aversion that he had to Queen Catherine the Daughter of that crafty Prince and projecting already the divorce which he made from her since he found that occasion so favourable that his proper interest prevailed with him more than the consideration of his Sister Some have said that it was only an effect of his inconstancy and it is certain that he was none of the firmest in his resolutions But it is no less true that the displeasure which he conceived against his Father-in-law and against his Queen had no small share in that change that broke the Ice at first and the alliance of France made his satisfaction appear afterwards more speedy and easie had it not been for these considerations he might have possibly persisted in his former design and a more steady mind than his by so many reasons could not but have too many temptations to change The proposals therefore of the King of France were accepted Suffolk was one of the first that assented to them and as at that time the Princess Mary abandoned her self wholly to grief so that generous Lover upon the refusal of the King who could not any longer comfort her but by false hopes undertook to do it That charge was without doubt the sum of his afflictions There is no violence like to that when a man inflamed with Love forces himself by an excess of affection to perswade the person whom he loves that she ought no more to love him But that same love which he strove to hide being the principle that set all the movements of his heart to work did hourly betray his design What garb soever he put on what shape soever he borrowed all was still love it would not be disguised and where it was most under constraint there it broke forth with greatest lustre So that the Princess who felt her self touched even with the hardest things that Suffolk durst tell her melting with compassion for the cruel tryals that he put himself to for her sake observed no measures on her part to make him lay aside that forced Mask But he having one day when they were by themselves urged her so far that she was at length pierced with that greatness of Soul that could not be made to stoop by the tenderness of hers and finding
answered Brandon that he perceived he was well informed of what he had written to his Sister and that he made great matters of it though it deserved no such construction for the truth was that he being willing to try the effects of love in a case of adversity had made use of the first word that appeared proper for his design That there was no more in that note and that in fine as to himself it was but a trifle as well as the rest but not so on his part seeing his memory was so good and he so touchy that he could not pardon some small inequalities which appeared in his humour since the death of Cecile That he had had some doubts that Woolsey might give him some Umbrage but that he never thought the impression could have been so deep and that the same appearances that had deceived him before deceived him still That notwithstanding he could not but excuse two errors into which he let himself only be led by an excess of affection That to undeceive him he would endeavour to proceed to an equal excess and that there was nothing in his Kingdom so great to which his heart and eyes might not aspire And that therefore he would not have him be troubled at the fopperies and idle talk of people That he should suffer his jealous Rivals to speak what their own jealousie would sufficiently hinder from being believed That it ought to suffice him that he knew the virtue of his Sister That he was willing he should love her and that he pretended that whatsoever was done with his approbation was above obloquy and censure In a word dear Brandon said he I will not that your virtue be the reason why you leave me My honour is concerned that I retain you and after all this what would be said of the King of England if it were known that a wise and discreet man could not live with him I shall not then comply with your desire your virtue has revenged you on my imprudence and my favours shall revenge me on your diffidence and though now you see some in my Court that create you trouble it is possible that shortly seeing none above you but my self you shall see nothing there but what may give you content At these words Brandon casting himself at his feet would have answered that he could never deserve the favours which he mentioned but the King embracing him no more of this said he we shall never make an end Delay your thanks for what I say until you have seen what I can do return to me with as sincere an heart as I desire you to do it and let nothing take up the cares of us both but my Sisters health I wish the time were come that I might give you her In this manner the illustrious Brandon escaped the shipwrack wherein most people thought him over-whelmed He grew greater after his disgrace than he had been before and the King to keep his word to him having repealed all the proceedings of the Mayor of London against him and given Woolsey a severe check for the violence he had used in that Rancounter condemned the Earl of Kildare in the charge of maintaining two Fregats in the Irish-Seas Of all the Rivals of Brandon there was none but the officious Gray exempted The generosity that he had shewed for an unfortunate enemy was of no small use to settle the good opinion which in the sequel he was held in But Bourchier Sommerset young Buckingham and the rest met with sharp Reprimands from the King and his Majesty having exprest himself with discontent against the scoffers and libellers which spared not so much as his own Palace men became more reserved and spake no more of the affairs of others In the mean while the Princess having been in great danger of her life gave shortly assured signs of a speedy cure Besides her young age and good constitution that which contributed much to it was the relation that Brandon gave her of the long discourse which he had had with the King the day that he was released Though he persisted in the design that the King had endeavoured to divert him from yet at that time he gave no signs of it On the contrary in the necessity of pleasing her he himself was willing to seem flattered with the things that he thought no more on but with grief and that complaisance working its effect the tranquillity of her mind recalled so effectually her bodily health that she recovered from her sickness more beautiful than before But as the King had only delayed his expedition to the War of France for her sake so he hastened his departure so soon as he knew her to be out of danger and used the more precipitancy because knowing better than any other the trouble that she and Brandon would have to bid adieu he would not have them have time to prepare for it nor to revive their passions Few arms have marched out with a more victorious air than that of England The King the Commanders Soldiers and every thing else seemed to go in triumph and there was no appearance as the affairs of Lewis the twelfth stood that he could be able to withstand them The League formed against him by the intrigues of Pope Julius the Second who had resolved at what rate soever to be revenged of him because that by his Ambassadours he had maintained the Council of Pisa where his life had been so severely examined raised him as many enemies as he had neighbours His allies had already felt the cruel effects of his misfortune And amongst others poor John D'albert lost the year before his Kingdom of Navar for Ferdinand of Arragon who desired nothing more than to joyn it to Spain failed not to lay hold on the specious pretext offered him by the Interdict of Rome and though that Pope a man of a froward and turbulent spirit upon his recovery from a great fit of sickness seemed to repent his bad designs yet he had engaged so many other potentates that he was now no more the Master of Peace All Italy was in arms The most part of the small Princes hoping to raise themselves to greatness in the disorder and running to the noise that had awakened them joyned themselves to the party of the League though they knew not why so that what secret attempts so ever Julius the Second made at that time to make an end of the War yet the loss of the Battel of Navar which drew after it all the Milanese that the French then sustained was nevertheless a chick of his hatching The sad news of this came to Paris at the same time that the English embarked for their passage and many cross accidents together befel the King of France during the joys that his Court could not refuse to the marriage of the Count of Guise with Anthonet of Bourbon Sister to the Count of Vendosme Not but that in the apprehension of the
her more tender passions giving the reins to the most violent that she was capable of the Duke of Longueville became the object of them She did nothing but detest the day of his Captivity and with so much the more violence that he revenged himself so cruelly on him that had taken him In a word she could not look on him but as a mortal enemy whose sight she protested she could never endure and it may be said of that French Prince that desiring by indirect ways to gain all he lost all and that as there was never any Lover whose notions were more foolish so likewise was there never any who took falser measures However his negotiation succeeded according to the orders which he had received and the General of Normandy extraordinary Ambassadour of France came to London to conclude the marriage and peace in the treaty of which the young King of Scotland was comprehended with excommunication against the breakers because it was authorised by the Pope After this the King of England and Duke of Suffolk made it all their care to recover the cheerful humour of the Princess which seemed to be banished from her soul for the rest of her days The Marquess of Dorset the Earls of Surrey Skrewsbury Worcester young Buckingham and all her former Lovers who now desisted from their pretensions employed themselves in that with all their might The Queen her self willing to contribute thereto made the first offers of being reconciled to her and the Dutchess of Salisbury the Countesses of Derby and Pembrock did in emulation of one another all that they could to please her But her distemper was of another nature than to yield to such weak remedies and there was none in the world but Suffolk able to mitigate it if he could have wholly concealed his own Whatever apparent satisfaction he made shew of she perceived but too well what an extreme love with extreme generosity made him suffer So that after he had kept himself on his legs beyond humane strength he fell sick which overwhelmed her with new troubles that brought her shortly into a condition not much different from his own There was much ado to conceal the real cause of it from the Duke of Longueville who began shrewdly to suspect the matter But in fine the secret was not discovered The preparatives for the marriage were thereby only a little retarded and Suffolk at three weeks end by the healthfulness of his constitution surmounting the bad humours which the vexations of mind had stirred in him at length re-established all matters by his recovery of health He was very desirous not to have accompanied the Princess unto France and he had but too many reasons to decline it But as she demanding of him that last complaisance could not forbear to tell him that her resolution was not as yet very firm and that even he had not prevailed with her but upon that condition he was obliged to condescend It is true also that having bound him to that hard necessity and well foreseeing what he might thereby suffer in the sequel she omitted to tell him nothing that might render it supportable to him The hopes wherewith he had flattered her were the same with which she flattered him She made seriously the same predictions to him which he had only made to her out of pity and to amuse her thoughts she grounded both the one and other on reasons to give them greater authority and representing to him always that he ought not to forsake her in the Precipice into which he did cast her and at that time especially when nothing but his Presence could help her to endure the sight of it it may be said that as she received from him so singular a proof of affection so though she gave her self to another yet she still retained the intire possession of her heart for him In the mean time the English Fleet was richly equipped for the passage of the Princess The King her Brother having brought her to Dover conducted her above two Leagues out at Sea he could not no more than she refrain tears at parting and notwithstanding of the advantage that he promised himself from the alliance of LOWIS the Twelfth yet he found that separation so grievous that he had sometimes a design to have renounced it Then did he repent that he had altogether preferred his own interests to the satisfaction of his dear Sister and he reproached himself rigorously with it as he comforted the unfortunate Suffolk who to compleat his afflictions had also the unprofitable grief of that Prince to listen to But though it was unprofitable and out of season yet it was sincere and he had remained long comfortless for the absence of Mary had he not by presaging the future grounded on his own wishes a strong hope of seeing her again shortly The Dutchess of Salisbury and Countess of Pembrock as being her Governesses passed the Sea with her with several other Ladies and Women for her service in France particularly her four Maids of honour Rene Winfield Susanna Dabenay Martha Sellinger and the young Ann of Wolen She was attended by a vast number of men but who were all again to return with the Dutchess of Salisbury and other Ladies after the Ceremonies of the marriage were over except the Duke of Suffolk the Marquess of Dorset and young Gray his Brother whose Presence the Queen had desired for six Months these last two that she might a little disguise the inclination that she had for the other They had a most favourable passage though it being about the end of October they could not have promised themselves so fair weather and that lovely Fleet having come to an Anchor before Boulogne with a salute from all the Guns of the City and Ships in the Harbour the Duke of Valois with the Dukes of Alencon and Bourbon the Counts of S. Poll and Guise and a great croud of Courtiers and Gentlemen in Magnificent pomp came to wait on her at her disembarking Next day the Duke of Valois in name of his Father-in-law espoused the Princess and the day following conducted her to Abbeville where the King in Person compleated the Ceremony and from thence passing by St. Dennis where she was Crowned the King arrived at Paris with the acclamations of all his People who spared nothing for the solemnization of his Nuptials and Return The Lists and Scaffolds for the Carrousel which he had appointed were already finished in the place Des Tournelles The structure and ornaments thereof represented the Conquest of the Milanois for the which he prepared himself under the Auspices of the Queen and the Cartels and Defies which in the name of the Defendants were two days after affixed to five Shields fastened on five Pillars which supported the triumphal Arch through which they entered the field received shortly after their answers in name of the Assailants It was free as it is always on such occasions to propose or
inclined to hear him He had many times much ado to leave her when the affairs of his Kingdom required it and for all the Grandure and Magnanimity which hath appeared in the course of his life yet being at that time too weak for his passion he appeared sometimes so peevish and out of humour that the same detracting tongues which have endeavoured to fully the reputation of Mary of England have given it out that his amorous fever made him so light-headed as to detest his marriage with the Daughter of LOWIS the Twelfth and to protest more than once that he had rather have enjoyed his Widow than his Kingdom Whether it was an effect of the Queens sweet disposition or that she was pleased to revenge her self for the troubles that he caused her before he was King she appeared not altogether inexorable Yet she was still the same at the heart and never what he took her to be So that one day when her beauty so surprised him that he forgot some of his measures thinking to take her on the right side he told her That since he himself could not expect to be happy it behoved him at least to endeavour to make her so that therefore he would marry her to the Duke of Suffolk whensoever she pleased that he feared no consequences of that marriage that he would be Guarrantee of it to all men and that he would take upon him to perswade the King her Brother to consent thereto To this proposition he added many marks of affection and dextrously insinuated how much it had cost him before he could bring himself to that resolution so that the fair Queen perceiving him in appearance exceedingly moved and suffering him to speak all that he pleased by gestures and looks affected several times not to be altogether insensible But having done so and judging that he thought her sufficiently touched she rose from the chair and looking on him with an air which might at first falsifie all the applause that she had given to his discourse she answered That he had never well known her and that he knew her not as yet That in France she was taken for a strange person but that the French themselves were a strange-humoured people and that she well perceived that amongst them a young Queen who would be thought virtuous and discreet though she were naturally affable and courteous must not show her self to be so That as to the Duke of Suffolk she saw very well that it was known that she had an esteem for so worthy a Gentleman and that she was willing he should be so far in her secrets as to tell him somewhat more particular that she had sometimes wished he had been born a King But that that being but a vain wish Suffolk must be satisfied with her esteem and for the rest that there were Soverains that demanded her and Kings who having demanded her from her Child-hood might still demand her This brisk answer not being understood did the more vex the King that he thought he had found a sure way to render the Queen pliable Yet for all that he gave not over He believed her to have been surprised or that she made it strange to be free with him and from time to time renewing the discourse of the marriage with the Duke of Suffolk though it was uneasie to him to speak good of a Rival yet as at that time he showed himself a most passionate Lover so he had at least the advantage of a favourable hearing In the mean while he got no ground upon her and the affairs of the Queen being now concluded she made it her business to prepare for her return into England Then was the time that the Love of FRANCIS the First which before was always but a gentle heat in his heart became a furious passion Many hours he restlesly spent a thousand violent thoughts he hatched and if he had not had as tractable and pliable a mind as he had a high and generous Courage probably he had run upon strange extremities But at length he took counsel of the wise in whom he confided and his love and despair changeing into pure Gallantry all his intentions were to give signal proofs of the command he had over himself But all the advances that he had already made in that laudable design and all the pomp and magnificence wherewith he had ordered the lovely Queen whom he was so loth to quit to be conducted out of his Territories were nothing so obliging to her nor so great for himself as the Letter which after the signing of all the Treaties that had been concluded by the Ministers on either side he wrote with his own hand to the King of England to this effect That there being few Kings who in personal worth excelled the Duke of Suffolk he ought to bestow on him so much of the Grandure of his Kingdom as might put him in a capacity to marry the Queen his Sister That if there were nothing on his part that might hinder such a lovely union for his own part he freely consented to it and that having besides proposed to the Arch-Duke the marriage of the Count of Nassaw with the Princess of Orange he should much rejoyce to hear that the two Ambassadours who had procured him the friendship of his illustrious neighbours had received in recompense the one the most beautiful Queen in the world and the other the richest Princess of the Low-Countries Thus did FRANCIS the First Crown his Love by a truely heroical action whereof another King slighted in his Love as he was would hardly have been capable It was the first action but not the least laudable of his Reign though that might afford matter for a continued Elogy There is nothing so great as for a man to conquer his own passions There are few that desire much less atchieve it And Kings especially when they are amorous and young are not accustomed to put their virtue to such a tryal The Queen found her self infinitely obliged to the sincere procedure which followed so generous an effort but durst not profess so much for fear of exposing her self to new troubles She thought it enough to correspond with it by all the civilities which might evidence her acknowledgment without reviving smothered flames and that Conduct of the most charming Princess of the world gaining intirely the esteem of a King who craved no more from her but friendship so fully re-placed her in the respect of all the Court notwithstanding of envy and detraction that there was not so much as one that belonged to it who seemed not troubled at her approaching departure The less polished Gallants lamented it and the others having understood the merit of the Duke of Suffolk during the time of his Embassie were almost all of opinion following the example of the King that the Queen had reason to love him All the discourse therefore at Court of their mutual affection was with respect and