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affection were shown by this youthful queen, which captivated the minds of the English, and caused her to be made the heroine of many an historical ballad,-a species of literature that the people of the land much delighted in at that time. The young widow remained in a state of captivity at HaveringBower, while her royal father in France was labouring under a long and dolorous fit of insanity, brought on by anxiety for his daughter's fate. The French council of regency demanded the immediate restoration of the young queen; but Henry IV. would not hear of it, answering, "That she should reside in England like other queen-dowagers, in great honour, on her dower; and that if she had unluckily lost a husband, she should be provided with another forthwith, who would be young, handsome, and every way deserving of her love. Richard of Bourdeaux was too old for her, but the person now offered was suitable in every respect; being no other than the prince of Wales."

It seems strange that Isabella, who had expressed such infant pride in being queen of England, should give up voluntarily all prospect of enjoying that station with a youthful hero whose age was so suitable to her own; yet so it was. That she was inflexible in her rejection of Henry prince of Wales, and mourned her murdered husband in a manner exceedingly touching, all who approached her, French or English, bore witness. Her refusal would have been of little avail, if her family and country had not seen the matter in the same light. In reply to Henry IV.'s proposition, the French regency declared "that during the grievous illness of their lord king Charles, they could not give away his eldest daughter without his consent." Therefore months passed away, and the maiden queen-dowager still continued a mourning widow in the bowers of Havering. It is recorded that king Henry and his princely heir did, in that interval, all in their power to win her constant heart from the memory of Richard; but in vain. She was just of the age to captivate the fancy of an ardent young prince like Henry of Monmouth; nor can there exist a doubt, by the extreme pertinacity with which he

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wooed the widow of his cousin, that she was beloved by him. However this may be, the modern paradox of Richard the Second's escape from the bloody towers of Pontefract is utterly annihilated by the continual efforts of Henry IV. to gain the hand of Isabella for his son. "Would Henry," asks an historical antiquary, in the Archæologia, "have been so desirous for the marriage of his heir with the widow of Richard, had he not been certain, beyond all doubt, that her husband was dead?" He would not surely have promoted a marriage which would have illegitimated the heirs of Lancaster. This is one of the historical proofs of a disputed point which appeals directly to common sense.

When Charles VI. recovered his senses, he sent the count d'Albret to inquire into the situation of Isabella. King Henry and his council were at Eltham, where the French ambassador was splendidly entertained by him. He told IIenry he had been sent by the king and queen of France to see the young queen their daughter. Henry IV. replied, "We no way wish to prevent you from seeing her; but you must promise, on oath, that neither yourself, nor any of your company, speak to her any thing concerning Richard of Bourdeaux. Should you do otherwise, you will greatly offend us and the whole country, and remain in peril of your lives while here." Not long after this, the earl of Northumberland carried count d'Albret to Havering-atte-Bower, where Isabella then resided. She was attended by the duchess of Ireland, the duchess of Gloucester, her two daughters, and other ladies and damsels as companions. The earl introduced the French embassy to the young queen, who conversed some time with them, asking eagerly many questions after her royal parents. They kept the promise they had made, by never mentioning king Richard, and returned to London after a short interview. At Eltham, on their way home, they dined with king Henry, who pre

1 Too much stress has been laid (by those who have worked hard to prove a paradox) on the fact, that Richard's skull was found entire, when his tomb was examined in Westminster-abbey. Let the antiquaries, however, consult medical authorities, and they will find that instant death may ensue from a concussion on the brain, without the bone of the head being broken: and how easy it was, if the king had, indeed, been only stunned, for his assassins to compress his mouth and nostrils, so that the return of respiration was prevented.

sented them with some rich jewels. When they took leave, he said, amicably, "Tell those who sent you that the queen shall never suffer the smallest harm, or any disturbance, but shall keep up a state and dignity becoming her birth and rank, and enjoy all her rights; for, young as she is, she ought not to be made acquainted with all the changes that happen in this world."

2

The council of Henry IV., meantime, anxiously deliberated on the destination of the young queen. It came at last to the decision, that Isabella, being of tender age, had no right to claim revenue as queen-dowager of England; but that, as no accommodation could be effected by the marriage with the prince of Wales, she ought to be restored to her friends. directly, with all the jewels and paraphernalia that she brought with her. But on this point a grand difficulty arose, for Henry IV. had seized the little queen's jewels, and divided them among his six children, the prince of Wales having the greatest share. The king wrote to his council, declaring "that he had commanded his son and other children to give up the jewels of their dear cousin queen Isabella, and that they were to be sent to London." But intention and performance are very different matters, for that "the dear cousin's jewels" were never returned we have the evidence of the queen's uncle, Orleans, and the French treaties between Henry V. and Charles VI. Nor are they named with her property specified in her journey to Leulinghen; yet in the schedule her silver drinking-cup, a few silver saucers and dishes, with a little old tapestry, are pompously enumerated. It is worthy of remark, to show the extreme parsimony of Henry, that an item demanding new clothes for the young queen and her maids of honour, with cloth for their charrettes or chariots, is sharply met by the answer, "that the king's wardrobe had given out all that he intended."

1 Froissart.

2 For this information, and the rest of the facts following, we are indebted to sir Harris Nicolas' invaluable edition of the Minutes of the Privy Council, vol. i. Fp. 118-134, 145.

* See the commencement of this biography, where a description is given of her robes, and an estimate of the value of her jewels.

♦ Rapin, vol. i., reign of Henry V.

Queen Isabella set out for London, May 27, accompanied by two ladies of the royal family, who had both received great injuries from Richard II.' The duchess of Ireland was one, and the countess of Hereford (mother to the duchess of Gloucester, the widow of the slaughtered Thomas of Woodstock) the other. To these ladies was consigned the care, or rather the custody, of Isabella's person. The sweetness of this angelic girl's disposition had certainly converted these natural enemies into loving friends, as will presently be shown. Next in rank to these great ladies in the train of Isabella was Eleanor Holland, the young widow of Roger earl of March, slain in Ireland, whose son was heir of England de jure; she had been appointed governess to the queen by Richard II., and still adhered to her, though merely classed now among her ladies of honour. The other ladies were lady Poynings, lady Mowbray, and madame de Vache. Isabella had likewise seven maids of honour, and two French chambermaids, Simonette and Marianne: the French chamberlain was monsieur de Vache. She had a confessor and a secretary. She was escorted by the bishops of Durham and Hereford, and by the earl of Somerset, Henry IV.'s half-brother, with four knights-banneret and six chevaliers.

With this train and escort the young queen set out from Havering. At Tottenham-cross, she was met by the late lord chamberlain, the earl of Worcester, with a gallant company, who joined her train. The lord mayor and his viscounts (as the aldermen were then called), with other good people of the city, met her at "Sandford-hill," and, falling in with her pro

1 See the biography of Anne of Bohemia.

2 This lady, called countess of Hereford, was the mother of the co-heiresses of Hereford, the duchess of Gloucester and Mary, the deceased wife of the usurper Henry IV. The duchess of Gloucester, who had been in the family of Isabella, had lately lost her promising son by the plague, and had died of grief. Her mother, this countess of Hereford, was the grandmother, by the maternal side, of Henry V.

3 Froissart mentions this dower-palace of the English queens as her latest residence. It is possible that some political reason might have made Isabella's cortège travel through Waltham-forest, and lodge at Waltham hunting-palace ; then she might cross the Lea to gain the north road instead of the east road, for her course was plainly by Tottenham-hill, and her entrance into London by Hackney. See Minutes of Privy Council, vol. i. p. 145.

cession, guarded her to London. At Hackney, prince Thomas, second son to Henry IV., met the young queen, and honourably accompanied her to London, assisted by the constable of England, the marshal, and other great officers. It is supposed Isabella tarried at the Tower from the day of her London entry, for she did not sail for France till July 1st following, when three ballingers and two armed barges were appointed to receive her and her suite at Dover.

July was far advanced before the maiden widow of Richard II. was restored to her parents; during which time Henry IV. and his son tried every means in their power to shake her childish constancy to the memory of Richard; but her " steady aversion," as Monstrelet calls her refusal, remained the same. The situation of this child was extraordinary, and her virtuous firmness more probable in a royal heroine of twenty-eight than in one who had seen little more than half as many summers. At last, the usurper resolved to restore the young widow to France, but refused to return her dowry, saying, that as a great favour he would agree to deduct its amount from the sum total that France still owed England for the ransom of king John. The jewels of the young queen he likewise retained, although it was expressly stipulated by the will of king Richard that, in case of his death, the rich jewels his little wife had brought from France should be restored to her. Henry could not plead ignorance of his cousin's testament, since the poor king's will, while he was yet alive, had been broken open to furnish articles of accusation against him.'

The royal virgin was approaching her fifteenth year when thus plundered; and, wearing the deep weeds of widowhood, she embarked at Dover for Calais, escorted by the same sir Thomas Percy' who had attended her as chamberlain during her espousals. Notwithstanding the fact that his family had been "the ladder wherewithal the mounting Bolingbroke ascended the throne of Richard," there is little doubt that sir Thomas Percy's heart ever beat loyally towards his rightful

1 See these articles in Rapin, who makes no comment on this monstrous pro ceeding, which is really without precedent for absurdity.

Afterwards the earl of Worcester, so famous in the Percy rebellion.
VOL. II.

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