Grisly Grisell | Page 4

north to be buried in the family vault, when her
father would be at all charges. Moreover, that the boy should be called
to account for his crime, his father being, as the Lady of Whitburn
caused to be written, an evil-minded minion and fosterer of the house
of Somerset, the very bane of the King and the enemies of the noble
Duke of York and Earl of Warwick.
The story will be clearer if it is understood that the Earl of Salisbury
was Richard Nevil, one of the large family of Nevil of Raby Castle in
Westmoreland, and had obtained his title by marriage with Alice
Montagu, heiress of that earldom. His youngest sister had married
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, who being descended from Lionel,
Duke of Clarence, was considered to have a better right to the throne
than the house of Lancaster, though this had never been put forward
since the earlier years of Henry V.
Salisbury had several sons. The eldest had married Anne Beauchamp,
and was in her right Earl of Warwick, and had estates larger even than
those of his father. He had not, however, as yet come forward, and the
disputes at Court were running high between the friends of the Duke of
Somerset and those of the Duke of York.
The King and Queen both were known to prefer the house of Somerset,
who were the more nearly related to Henry, and the more inclined to

uphold royalty, while York was considered as the champion of the
people. The gentle King and the Beauforts wished for peace with
France; the nation, and with them York, thought this was giving up
honour, land, and plunder, and suspected the Queen, as a Frenchwoman,
of truckling to the enemy. Jack Cade's rising and the murder of the
Duke of Suffolk had been the outcome of this feeling. Indeed, Lord
Salisbury's messenger reported the Country about London to be in so
disturbed a state that it was no wonder that the Lady of Whitburn did
not make the journey. She was not, as the Countess suspected, a very
tender mother. Grisell's moans were far more frequently for her nurse
than for her, but after some space they ceased. The child became
capable of opening first one eye, then the other, and both barber and
lady perceived that she was really unscathed in any vital part, and was
on the way to recovery, though apparently with hopelessly injured
features.
Leonard Copeland had already been released from restraint, and
allowed to resume his usual place among the Earl's pages; when the
warder announced that he saw two parties approaching from opposite
sides of the down, one as if from Salisbury, the other from the north;
and presently he reported that the former wore the family badge, a
white rosette, the latter none at all, whence it was perceived that the
latter were adherents of the Beauforts of Somerset, for though the
"Rose of Snow" had been already adopted by York, Somerset had in
point of fact not plucked the Red Rose in the Temple gardens, nor was
it as yet the badge of Lancaster.
Presently it was further reported that the Lady of Whitburn was in the
fore front of the party, and the Lord of Salisbury hastened to receive
her at the gates, his suite being rapidly put into some order.
She was a tall, rugged-faced North Country dame, not very smooth of
speech, and she returned his salute with somewhat rough courtesy,
demanding as she sprang off her horse with little aid, "Lives my wench
still?"
"Yes, madam, she lives, and the leech trusts that she will yet be
healed."

"Ah! Methought you would have sent to me if aught further had
befallen her. Be that as it may, no doubt you have given the malapert
boy his deserts."
"I hope I have, madam," began the Earl. "I kept him in close ward
while she was in peril of death, but--" A fresh bugle blast interrupted
him, as there clattered through the resounding gate the other troop, at
sight of whom the Lady of Whitburn drew herself up, redoubling her
grim dignity, and turning it into indignation as a young page rushed
forward to meet the newcomers, with a cry of "Father! Lord Father,
come at last;" then composing himself, doffed his cap and held the
stirrup, then bent a knee for his father's blessing.
"You told me, Lord Earl, the mischievous, murderous fellow was in
safe hold," said the lady, bending her dark brows.
"While the maid was in peril," hastily answered Salisbury. "Pardon me,
madam, my Countess will attend you."
The Countess's high rank and great power were impressive to the
Baroness of Whitburn, who bent in salutation, but almost her first
words were, "Madam, you