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THE SUNNY SOUTH.
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Woman’s Page and Work of the Household Continued
The Book of the Day.
“WHEN KNIGHTHOOD WAS IN FLOWER.”
Th<* attentfon of the literary world i? just now directed to that wonderful
historical romance, “When Knighthood «*■» Slower “ that is winning unprece
dented laurels in that difficult field of I ook-makln^. The great popularity of this
work has almost exceeded the capacity of the press for turning, out the books,
and only recently have the publishers b. ... icacn tne markets of the east.
The book is now in its nineteenth edition and its popularity increasing.
The author recently remarked that it was rather difficult to tell just what
made a novel popular. There are mar.v things that are accepted as truths that
defy the reasoning researches of the philosopher. Mr. Major’s estimate was on
novels in general. In his particular case the fact is not hard tp determine. The
theme of his book is as “wide as want, and like the sky, extends over all.” It
is known to those beneath soft heavens where the Southern Cross hangs its
mystic sign aloft, and under the chill gray stretch of textureless woof shot
through with the crimson shafts of the northern lights—in different customs or
manners may be. but ft is known. It is old as time, yet new as last night’s liba
tion of dew. as sparkling and as fresh.
The thread woven through this romance of the fifteenth century by a mas
ter nand is love. But here research must stop, for ever since the morning stars
sang together over young creation’s birth have those deeply versed in the mys
terious tried to describe that sweetly compelling influence that directs across
seas and through difficult ways the spirit’s mate until they become one.
After reciting th.; manifold glorious attributes of Divinity, the inspired saint
included them all in the words, “God is Dove.”
Victor Hugo says, after Maurius had found out that he loved Cosette, “He
wandered forth in the solitude of the evening, bewildered, lost, unconscious!
His coat was thin and threadbare. Love had touched his heart. The stars
shone through his soul.” He remarks again: “We sometimes dream that from
time to time hours detach themselves fiom the lives of the angels and come here
below, to pass through the destiny of mortals.” Sophocles says: “Love! who
lighteston wealth.who makost thy couch in the soft cheek of the youthful damsel
and roamest beyond the sea, and ’mid rural cots, thee shall neither any of the
Immortals escape, nor men the creatures of the day.”
Poets of all degrees and conditions have essayed to sing of this soulful theme.
Polomon includes it all when he sings his song: “Love is as strong as death.
Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it; if a man would
give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be condemned.”
One is always interested in the life of another, his surroundings and social
environments, and so this sketch is given.
INDIANA AUTHORS.
The first religious novel that attained phenomenal success and had the larg
est sales of any American book, was written by an Indiana author. General Lew
Wallace. From an Indiana homestead comes that sweet singer.James Whitcomb
Riley, whose name is an open sesame to home and all its tender associa
tions; whose songs of green fields and running brooks and childish affection are
lingered over with the deepest regard and undying love. Indiana also gives rise
to this later literary luminary whose ascendancy is remarked by all in worship-
ful surprise.
CHARLES MAJOR.
Mr. Charles Major traces his ancestry
back to the D'Fys, who came over with
William the Conqueror and were with
him at the battle of Hastings. The
Majors settled in Scotland, but. in the
time of Cromwell, three of the brothers
went to Ireland. There Stephen Major,
the father of the author, was born. He
came to America in 1829 and began the
study of law. He was successful in his
practice and became judge of the circuit
which included Marion county and five
other counties. Later he moved to Indi
anapolis where his son Charles was born,
July 25. 1856.
Mr. Charles Major was educated in
the public schools of this city and in the
University of Michigan, from which ho
graduated in 1875. As early as his at
tendance at the schools here, his friends
predicted a bright future for him. his
class oration being notably brilliant. His
fluency and eloquence, together with a
graceful style and a well modulated
voice of rich and full tone, made him a
winning debater and a charming speaker.
From early boyhood he has written both
verse and prose, on both of which he re
ceived high encomiums. Until lately he
has Kept his authorship a secret.
His family having moved to Shelby -
ville, Charles went there after he left
college and studied law in the office of his
father. During the next two years he
traveled extensively, making the acquain
tance of prominent lawyers in Baltimore,
Philadelphia. New. York and other cities,
utilizing his acquaintance to become fa
miliar with rare hooks for which he had
a great liking. He was admitted to the
Shelby county bar in 1877. and has prac
ticed law there ever since. He was
elected city clerk of Shelbyville and was
immediately after sent to the state legis
lature for a term. He has no taste for
politics, however, and has no ambition
in that line.
In 1883. Mr. Major married Miss Alice
Shaw of this city, a woman of striking
personality and of pronounced literary
tastes, with whom he lives an ideal life
in their beautiful home at Shelbyville.
In a recent interview Mr. Major said
of his further literary labor: “I am at
work now on a story dealing with Nell
Gwynn and the prominent characters of
her time. Unfortunately for me. I And
that some of the historical matter which
I intended to use in this story has al
ready been used by Anthony Hope in bis
“Simon Dale.” But as he was first on the
field. I suppose I have no complaint. I
am much interested, also, in that period
of French history beginning with Hugh
Uapet and running down to Louis XVI.
One most interesting character in that
period was Mary of Burgundy, daughter
of that great Duke of Burgundy. Charles
the Rash. She had a romantic history and
1 hope some day to embody the chief
facts in a historical novel.”
Many are so given to saying that suc
cess obtained so suddenly and seemingly
without effort, will not last long, but
will vanish and leave no trace behind.
They forget the lines of Longfellow:
“The heights by great men reached and
kept
Were not attained by sudden flight.
But they, while their companions slept.
Were toiling upward in the night.”
This book is the result of long and pa
tient industry: of years, collecting a fact
here and a fancy there, until all stand
forth in a perfected whole. The love of
those quaint and curious chronicles of
bv-gone times, early attracted the atten
tion of the rising young lawyer, and
when investing in some new book it was
oltenest some old work of prose or po
etry bearing on the days of “Merrie Eng
land.” when knighthood was in flower.
The practice of his profession increased
and he soon grew into a busy life. The
pursuit of political preferments was dis
tasteful to his mind, that found its recre
ation in conning over the pages of his
torical romance. He read for the pleas
ure connected with such employment, and
not that he ever expected to derive any
thing of a pecuniary nature from it.
Mr. Major grew into close relations
with the Tudor family, and he knew the
temper of this baby daughter of Henry
VII. s. the most interesting girl in Eu
rope. from a standpoint of both wit and
beauty. He was familiar with the repu
tation of old Louis XII.. who had one
foot in the grave. He knew the despotic
nature of Henry; he knew the charming
disposition of Brandon, the beautiful
Apollo on whom Mary had set her heart
in its entirety.
THE PUBLICATION.
We see that the book was not the pro
duct of a few days of labor, but the re-
Did anybody anywhere
ever object to a Macbeth
lamp-chimney ?
But get the Number made
for your lamp. Get the Index.
Write Macbeth Pittsburfh Pa
suit of years of persistent study and deep
research, collecting material here and
there and weaving it together with an
untiring hand of patient industry.
At last the book was ready for publica
tion. It was sent to one of the largest
and oldest publishing houses of New
York city. It was of course, pronounced
good, and he was so informed by the
publishers. But it seems they were wast
ing a valuable opportunity, for in the
meantime the Bowen-Merrill Co., of In
dianapolis. heard of it. They lost no
time in perfecting arrangements for its
publication.
The book waited for more than a year
for a propitious moment to make its ad
vent; this time came last September.
Then commenced the almost unparalleled
recognition, the end of which cannot yet
be determined.
A Pseudonym.
Mr. Major wisely concluded to see the
popularity of his work before he attached
his name to it. So we find upon the title
page: “The Love Storj-v of Charles Bran
don and Mary Tudor, the King’s Sister,
and Happenings in the Reign of His Au
gust Majesty. King Henry vm. Re
writ t*eu and Rend'-rp^ into ModerntEnglisb
from Sir Edwin Caskoden's Memoir by
Edwin Caskoden.”
Words of Praise.
In a few days after it was published,
The Times-Herald, of Chicago, announced
its praise by saying, “It is worthy of An
thony Hope.” Reviews, each one more
complimentary than the preceding, have
quickly followed each other.
The Review of Reviews for April says:
“As a character study Mr. Major’s delin
eation of Mary Tudor is remarkable, but
the author deserves quite as much praise
for his unusual success in surrounding
all his characters with what is techni
cally known as the ‘atmosphere’ ot their
times. This is what gives the work its
wonderful unity and consistency—quali
ties obviously lacking in so many would-
be historical novels. None hut a devoted
student of English history could have
produced such an effect. One hesitates to
class Mr. Major’s effort with the ro
mances of Anthony Hope: it reminds us
rather of the genius of Sir Walter Seott,
and without going back to Scott, it would
not be easy to find its equal in its par
ticular field. Assuredly, the spirit of ro
manticism is not dead.”
The first edition was printed September
7. 1898; the nineteenth edition. April 7. 1899.
When considering these figures, no doubt
the old adage of “He who hesitates is
lost.” occurs to those who first consider
ed the work and hesitated.
In Fear of Plagiarism.
When the book was ready to be issued
Mr. Major, in looking over the catalogue
of a London •publishing house. came
across the title of a book. “The Illustrious
Lovers.” that dealt with the love of Mary
Tudor and Charles Brandon. He immedi
ately became possessed with the fear that
the charge of plagiarism would he laid
at his door, but upon investigation he
found it dealt in an entirely different
manner from his story.
THE TITLE.
The Bookman says: “The music and
color of the stately phrase ‘When Knight
hood was in Flower” are little reflected
in the work. The author has not tried to
follow Scott in his pictures of jousts or
other pageantry of knighthood, nor has
he studied in the school of Stanley Wey-
man or Anthony Hope for robust descrip
tions of brawls or duels. He has not
made a book half hidden with historic
details nor weighted with descriptions of
scenes and systems that surely were out
of place in the transcription of a me
moir as this work purports to be. . . . The
writing is a labor not only of love, but
for love. It is a down-right love story.”
The Bookman continues* “The scenes
are full of animation, the story is drama
tically told, and the characters are alive,
especially the character of Mary Tudor,
one of the most fascinating heroines that
we have met in fiction, because one of the
most complete in her range of the gam
ut of womankind. The state which has
given to American literature the work of
James Whitcomb Riley and General Lew
Wallace has reason to be proud of its
latest accession.”
Its Source.
That Mr. Major was lucky in choosing
a title for his book is not doubled, and
this may be in its manner counted a
stroke of genius, for all must acknowl
edge that there is something in a name.
The title is to be found in Leigh Hunt’s
beautiful poem. “The Gentle Armour. ’
The poem was withdrawn by Hunt from
the later editions of his works, and a
page from the first edition, in Mr. Ma
jor’s possession, showing the source of
the title is here given:
Gentle Armour.
CANTO I.
A lady’s gift I sing.which meant in blame.
His glorious hauberk to a knight became.
And in the field such dire belaboring bore.
As gentle armour never stood before;
A song of love, fit for the purest ears,
With smiles begun and clos’d, and man
hood in the tears.
There liv’d a knight when knighthood
was in flow’r.
Who charm’d alike the tiltyard and the
bow’r;
Young, handsome, blithe, loyal and brave
of course.
He stuck as firmly to his friend as horse;
And only show’d, for so complete a youth.
Somewhat too perfect a regard for truth.
He own’d ’twas inconvenient; sometimes
felt
A wish ’twere buckled in another’s belt;
Doubted its modesty, its use, its right.
Yet after all remain’d the same true
knight;
So potent is a custom, early taught;
And to such straits may honest men be
brought.
THE PLOT.
As the story relates, Carleton has truth
fully said: “Oh, the love of Woman—the
Love of Woman! How high will it not
rise? and to what lowly depths will it
not stoop? What obstacles will it not
o\ercome. and what sacrifices will it not
make, rather that give up the being upon
which it has been once wholly and truth
fully fixed? Perennial of life which grows
up under every climate how small would
be the sum of human happiness without
thee? No coldness, no neglect, no harsh
ness, no cruelty can extinguish thee! Like
the fabled lamp in the sepulcher, thou
sheddest thy pure light in the human
heart, when everything around thee is
dead forever.” In the opening we find:
“It sometimes happens. Sir Edwin says,
that when a woman will she won’t, and
when she won’t she will; but usually in
the end the adage holds good. That sen
tence may not be luminous with meaning,
but I will give you an illustration.” It
was in the spring of 1509 that his august
majesty, Henry VII, came to the throne
^ »-our friend outdoing you
in your own line.”
. am to near it,” I returned.
“If Lady Jane will kindly play some
lively air, written in the time of ‘The
Sailor Lass,’ I will teach the Lady Mary
the new dance,” said Brandon.
Jane threw one plump little knee over
the other and struck up “The Sailor
Lass.” After she had adjusted the play
ing to Brandon’s suggestion he stepped
deliberately in front of Mary, and, taking
her right hand in his left, encircled her
waist with his right arm. The girl was
startled at first and drew away. This
ntttled Brandon a little, and he showed
it plainly.
“I thought you wished me to teach you
the new dance?” he said. •
“I do, but—but—I did not know’ it was
danced that way,” she replied with a
fluttering little laugh, looking up into his
face with a half shy, half apologetic man
ner, and then dropping her lashes before
his gaze. % . •
“Oh, well,” said Brandon, with a
Frenchman's shrug of the shoulders, and
then moved off as if about to leave the
floor.
“But is that really the way you—they
dance it? With your—their arm around
my—a lady’s waist?”
“I should not have dared venture upon
such a familiarity otherwise,” answered
Brandon, with a glimmer of a smile play
ing around his lips and hiding in his
eyes.
Mary saw’ this shadowy smile and said:
*‘Oh, r fear your modesty will cause you
hurt; I am beginning to believe you would
dare do anything you wish. I more than
half suspect you are a very bold man,
notwithstanding your smooth, modest
manner.”
“You do me foul wrong, I assure you.
I am the soul of modesty, and grieve that
>ou should think me bold,” said Brandon,
MR. CHARLES flAJOR (EDWIN CASKODEN.)
of England, and tendered to Edwin Cas
koden the honorable position of master of
the dance ai his sumptuous court. As to
wordlv goods. Edwin was in very com
fortable circumstances, so he did not care
for the pay that went with the office, but
regarded with greatest delight the honor
that attended it. Four or five years af
ter he took charge of the office there
came news of a terrible du^l fought down
in Suffolk out of which only one of the
feur combatants had come out alive, or
rather two, hut one was in a worse con
dition than death.
The first survivor was a son of Sir
William Brandon, and the second was a
man called Sir Adam Judson. It was said
that young Brandon and his elder broth
er had met Judson at an Ipswich inn.
Judson had then won from them a con
siderable sum of money, and it was after
wards discovered that he had done this
by cheating.
A duel came by way of settlement. Jud
son was counted the most deadly and
most cruel duelist of the time; he was
called the “Walking Death.” and he
claimed that in eighty-seven duels he
had killed seventy-five men. Brandon’s
elder brother soon succumbed to th° su
perior skill of his antagonist; and his fa
ther. Sir William., quickly suffered the
same fate. After this came our hero's
turn. He knew that Judson’s skill as a
duelist lay in a shirt of mail that could
not be pierced, so he concluded to worry
him out. Judson soon began to show
signs of fatigue, and he said: “Boy. I will
spare you; I have killed enough of your
tribe; put up your sword and call it
quits.”
Young Brandon replied: “Stand your
ground, you coward, you will be a dead
man as soon as you grow a little weaker;
if you try to run I will thrust you
through the neck like a cur. Listen how
you snort. 1 shall soon have you; you are
almost gone. You would spare me, would
you? I could preach a sermon or dance a
horn-pipe while I am killing you. I will
not break my sword against your coat of
mail, but I will wait until you fall from
weakness, and then .... Fight, you
bloodhound.”
Soon Judson’s sword was sent flying 30
feet away; he started to run. but
fell upon bis knees and began to
beg for his life. Brandon’s re
ply was a flashing circle of steel
and his sword point cut lengthwise
through Judson’s eyes and the bridge of
his nose, leaving him sightless and hid
eous for life. A revenge compared to
which death would have been merciful.
As might be expected, after this duel
Brandon became a person of interest.
His uncle at court. Sir Thomas Brandon,
ihe king's master at horse, soon had him
introduced at court, where such events
as rarely fall to the lot of man were
waiting for him.
His first appearance at court was made
during a tourney, where he won the hon
ors of the day. and w’here his handsome
person and winning grace made a vivid
impression on young Mary Tudor, sister
to the king. They met some half dozen
times and were madly in love with each
other.
Brandon is as learned as he is elegant.
He does not care to teach the impetuous
Mary philosophy, but gladly instructs her
in the dance. He does not teach her the
solemn gavot. nor the more natural erail-
larde, but he show's her how to foot a
more merrier step.
“Perhaps you know their new dances,
tco. I have heard they are delightful.”
“Yes. I know them.” replied Brandon.
“Why. you are a perfect treasure; teach
me at once. How now, master of the
with a broadening smile.
Mary interrupted him. “Now, I do be
lieve you are laughing at me—at my prud
ery. I suppose you think it.”
Mary would rather have been called a
fool than a prude, and T think she was
right. Pruderv is no more a sign of vir
tue than a wig is of hair, it is usually
put on to hide a bald place.
But Mary was a Tudor.
“She was a little frightened at his arm
around her waist, for the embrace was
r.ew to her—the first touch of man—and
was shy . and-coy, though willing, being
determined to learn the dance. She was
an apt pupil, and soon glided softly and
gracefully around the room with unfeign
ed delight, yielding to the new situation
more -easily as she became accustomed
to it.
This dance was livelier exercise than
La Galfiard, and Mary could not talk
much for lack of breath. Brandon kept
the conversation going, though, and she
answered with glances, smiles, nods and
monosyllables—a very good vocabulary in
its way. and a very good way, too, for
that matter.
“Once he said something to her in a low
voice w’hich brought a flush to her cheeks
and caused her to glance quickly up into
his face. By the time her answer came
they were nearer us and I heard her say.
‘I am afraid I shall have to forgive you
again if you are not careful. Let me see
an exhibition of that modesty you so
much boast.’ But a smile and a flash of
the eyes went* with the words and took
all the sting out of them.
“After a time the dancers stopped, and
Mary, with flushed face and sparkling
eves, sank into a chair exclaiming, ‘The
new dance is delightful. Jane. It Is like
flying; your partner helps you so. But
what would the king say? And the
queen? She would simply swoon with
horror. It is delightful, though.’ Then
with more confusion in her manner than
I had ever before seen, ‘That is. it is de
lightful If one chooses her partner.’
“This only made matters worse and
gave Brandon an opportunity.
“ ‘Dare I hope?’ he asked, with a def
erential bow.
“ *Oh, yes, you may hope. T tell you
frankly it was delightful with you. Now,
are you satisfied, my modest one?”’
One afternoon the princess invites Bran
don to a little party, where the fortunate
man makes his first court enemy. Says
the author:
“These parties of Mary’s had been go
ing on once or twice a week during the
entire winter and spring, and usually in
cluded the same persons. It was a sort
of coterie whose members were more or
less congenial, and most of them very
jealous of interlopers. Strange as it may
seem, uninvited persons often attempted
to force themselves in, and all sorts of
schemes and maneuvers were adopted to
gain admission. To prevent this two
guardsmen, with halberds, were stationed
at the door. Modesty, I might say,
neither thrives nor is useful at court.
“When Brandon presented himself at
the door his entrance was barred, but he
quickly pushed aside the halberds and
entered. The Duke of Buckingham, a
proud and self-important individual, was
standing near the door and saw it all.
Now, Buckingham was one of those un
fortunate individuals who never lose an
opportunity to make a mistake, and. be
ing anxious to display his zeal on behalf
of the princess, he stepped up to prevent
Brandon’s entrance.
“ ‘Sir. you will have to move out of
this,” he said, pompously. ‘Yoii are not
at a jousting bout. You have made a
mistake, and have come to the wrong
place.’
“ ‘My Lord of Buckingham is pleased to
make rather more of an ass of himself
than usual this evening,’ said Brandon,
with a smile, as he started across the
room to Mary,whose smile he had caught.
She had seen and heard it all, but in place
cf coming to his relief stood there laugh
ing to herself. At this Buckingham grew
furious, and ran around ahead of Bran
don, valiantly drawing his sw’ord.
“ ‘Now, by heaven, fellow, make but
another step and I will run you through,’
he said
“I saw* it all but could hardly realize
what was going on, it came so quickly
and was so soon over. Like a flash
I randon s sword was out of its sheath
and Buckingham’s blade was flying to
ward the ceiling. Brandon’s sw’ord was
sheathed again so quickly that one could
hardly believe it had been out at all, and.
picking up Buckingham's, he said, with
a half smothered laugh:
“ 'Mv lord has dropped his sword.’ He
then broke its point with his heel against
the hard floor, saying: ‘I will dull the
point, lest my lord, being unaccustomed
to its use, wound himself.’ This brought
peals of laughter from everybody, includ
ing the king. Mary laughed also: but as
Brandon was handing Buckingham his
blade, came up and demanded:
“ ‘My lord, is this the way you take it
upon yourself to receive my guests? Who
appointed you. let me ask, to guard my
door? We shall have to omit your name
from our next list unless you take a few
lessons in good manners.’ ”
A pleasing little episode is given in a
ride to Windsor, which show’s the au
thor’s fine insight into affairs of the
heart; it is also a sweet insistent hint at
wit:
“I noticed after a time that the Lady
Mary kept looking backward in our direc
tion, as if fearing rain from the east. . .
I heard her voice, but did not understand
what she said. In a moment some one
called out, ‘Master Brandon is wanted.’
So that gentleman rode forward and I
followed him. When we came up with
the girls Mary said, ‘I fear my girth is
loose.’
“ ‘Brandon at once dismounted to tight
en it and the others of our immediate
party began to cluster around. Brandon
tried the girth.’
“ ‘My lady, it is as tight as the horse
can well bear,’ he said.
“ ‘It is loose, I say.” insisted the prin
cess, with a little irritation; * the saddle
feels like it. Try the other.’ . Then turn
ing impatiently to the persons gathered
around: ‘Does it require all of you
standing there like gaping bumpkins, to
tighten my girth? Ride on: w'e can man
age this without so much help.’ Upon this
broad hint everybody rode ahead while I
hold the horse for Brandon. w r ho went on
with his search for the loose girth. While
ho was looking for it Mary leaned over
her horse’s neck and asked: ‘Were you
and Cavendish settling all the philosophi
cal points now in dispute, that you found
him so interesting?’
“ ‘Not all,’ answered Brandon, smiling.
“ ‘You w’ere so absorbed. I suppose, it
could be nothing short of that.’
“ ‘No.’ replied Brandon again. ‘But the
girth is not loose.’
“Perhaps I only imagined it.’ returned
Mary carelessly, having lost interest in
the girth.’ ”
A happy illustration of lovers!
Unfortunately for Brandon. Bucking
ham was also in love with Mary. In a
very few weeks the princess and Brandon,
in a most touching and delicately written
passage, declare their mutual love. At
this very time negotiations were being
carried on for the marriage of Mary to
Louis de Valois, the twelfth Louis of
n’.i'iw , Mr» o abf '-iot brTu~v ^ ' Uat fate
could be so cruel as to ti- her to this
decrepit old French king, and being anx
ious to know' her fortune, she determines
to consult an old Jewish soothsayer liv
ing in Billingsgate ward. King Henry
had given the strictest orders that no
member of the court was to visit this
fortune-teller, but Mary, being deter
mined. takes Lady Jane and goes se- .
cretly. Lady Jane notifies Brandon and
he follows the ladies, they all unknow
ing, to sec that they come to no harm.
They are also followed by Buckingham,
who has learned of their proposed visit,
and Buckingham’s followers attack them
as they are returning, but Brandon, after
a desperate fight, brings them off in
safety. Next morning he is arrested, and
through the machinations of Bucking
ham, the king is made to believe Bran
don much w’orse than he really is. and
in prison Brandon stays until Caskoden
secures his release.
After this, adventures come thick and
fast, and interest in these memoirs never
flags one instant. Here are Wolsey, al
ready powerful, and King Henry urging
Mary to consent to her marriage to
Louis XII. and poor Mary, all in love
with Brandon, is nearly distracted. At
last Henry discovers that Brandon is the
one objection to Mary's marriage of
state, and a decree is made ordering
^Brandon out of the kingdom. Then Sir
Edwin tells us how Brandon made all
arrangements for going to New Spain,
and how. at the last moment, the Prin
cess Mary, fearing to be left alone to
marry the French king, dresses herself
like a man, and. trusting all to her sweet
heart, escapes from the court and gets
safely on board ship. But the lovers
wore not destined to sail to the new
world. Mary’s sex is discovered, she and
Brandon are put ashore, and the next
morning Brandon is conveyed to the
lower of London, while the princess is
imprisoned in her own room at Windsor.
Brandon is sentenced to be beheaded, and
while he lingers in the tower, the king
and Wolsey try to persuade Mary tQ the
marriage with the French king. She is
not to be persuaded, until at the last she
is told by her brother that only her ac
quiescence will save Brandon’s life. Then
she consents.
There was some kind of arrangement
that if her old mate should die she might
marry a second time at her own liking.
How she might hasten the end of the
days of her husband occupied her partic
ular attention.
“Mary would often pout for days to
gether and pretend illness. Upon one oc
casion she kept the king waiting at her
door all morning, while she, having
slipped through the window, W’as riding
with some of the young people in the
forest. When she returned—through the
window—she went to the door and scold
ed the poor old king for keeping her wait-
i ing penned up in her room all morning.
And he apologized.
“She changed the dinner hour to noon,
in accordance with the English custom,
and had a heavy supper at night, when
she would make the king gorge himself
with unhealthful food and coax him ‘to
drink as much as brother Henry,’ which
invariably resulted in Louis de Valois
finding lodgment under the table. This
amused the whole court, except a few
old cronies and physicians, who, of
course, were scandalized beyond measure.
She took the king on long rides with her
on cold days, and would jolt him almost
to death, and freeze him until the cold
tears streamed down his poor pinched
nose, making him feel like a half-animat
ed icicle, and wish that he w'ere one in
fact.
“Mary was killing Louis as certainly
and deliberately as if she were feeding
him slow* poison. He was very weak and
decrepit at best. * * * Mary’s conduct
was really cruel; but then remember her
provocation and that she was acting in
self-defense.”
Caskoden gives us so many details of
the mad pranks that Mary played upon
her old husband that it is very plain that
marriage made slight difference to her
and that she but waited the natural
course of events, the French king’s death,
so that she could go to the arms Of her
love, the English commoner.
And then there are letters that pass be
tween the queen and her lover in Eng
land, letters of hope and love, until the
second week in December rolls around
and there comes this letter from Mary:
“Master Charles Brandon:
“Sir and Dear Friend. Greeting—I have
but time to write that the king is so ill
that he can not but die ere morning.
Thou knowest that which I last wrote to
thee, and in addition thereto I would say
that although I have, as thou likewise
knowest, my brother’s permission to
marry whom I w T ish, yef. as I have his
one consent, it is safer that we act upon
that rather than be so scrupulous as to
aslt tr»r another. So it were better that
thou ’fake to wife upon the old one, rather
than risk the necessity of having to do
without any. I say no more, but come
with all the speed thou knowest.
‘‘MARY.”
It is needless to say that Brandon
started in haste for Paris. None too
quickly, either, for hardly has the breath
left Louis de Valois than his youthful
successor, Francis I. desires to marry
her, and failing that, he keeps her almost
a prisoner, desiring to marry her to the
Count of Savoy. But Mary is too shrewd
for them and she eludes them, and Cas
koden relates:
“I hurriedly found Brandon, and re
paired to the little chapel, where we
waited a very long time, we thought. At
last the two queens entered, as if to make
their devotions. As soon as Brandon and
Mary caught sight of each other. Queen
Claude and I began to examine the
shrines and decipher the Latin inscrip
tions. If these two had not married soon
they would have been the death of me. I
wras compelled, at length, to remind them
that time was very precious just at this
juncture, whereupon Mary, who was half
laughing, half crying, lifted her hands to
her hair and let it fall In all its lustrous
(Continued on Page 8.)
HEALTHFUL
OLD AGE
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