said of her by the greatest men of this age, as would astonish thee to hear; but they were what she had a right to and very well deserved. And the strengthening of her mind through study and religious discipline served her well at the time of her great trouble; for where other women would have lacked sense and courage how to act, she kept her wits about her, and ministered such comfort to her father, remaining near him at the last, and taking note of his wishes, and finding means to bury him in a Christian manner, which none other durst attempt, that she had occasion to thank God who gave her a head as well as a heart. And who knows, Nan, what may befal thee, and what need thou mayst have of the like advantages?'
"My grandmother looked so kindly on me then, that, albeit abashed at the remembrance of my fault, I sought to move her to further discourse; and knowing what great pleasure she had in speaking of Sir Thomas More, at whose house in Chelsea she had oftentimes been a visitor in her youth, I enticed her to it by cunning questions touching the customs he observed in his family.
"'Ah, Nan!' she said, that house was a school and exercise of the Christian religion. There was neither man nor woman in it who was not employed in liberal discipline and fruitful reading, although the principal study was religion. There was no quarrelling, not so much as a peevish word to be heard; nor was any one seen idle; all were in their several employs: nor was there wanting sober mirth. And so well-managed a government Sir Thomas did not maintain by severity and chiding, but by gentleness and kindness.'
"Methought as she said this, that my dear grandam in that matter of chiding had not taken a leaf out of Sir Thomas's book; and there was no doubt a transparency in my face which revealed to her this thought of mine; for she straightly looked at me and said, 'Nan, a penny for thy thoughts!' at the which I felt myself blushing, but knew nothing would serve her but the truth; so I said, in as humble a manner as I could think of, 'An if you will excuse me, grandam, I thought if Sir Thomas managed so well without chiding, that you manage well with it.' At the which she gave me a light nip on the forehead, and said, 'Go to, child; dost think that any but saints can rule a household without chiding, or train children without whipping? Go thy ways, and mend them too, if thou wouldst escape chastisement; and take with thee, Nan, the words of one whom we shall never again see the like of in this poor country, which he used to his wife or any of his children if they were diseased or troubled, "We must not look at our pleasures to go to heaven in feather-beds, or to be carried up thither even by the chins."' And so she dismissed me; and I have here set down my fault, and the singular goodness showed me by my grandmother when it was pardoned, not thinking I can write anything better worth notice than the virtuous talk with which she then favored me.
"There is in this house a chapel very neat and rich, and an ancient Catholic priest is here, who says mass most days; at the which we, with my grandmother, assist, and such of her servants as have not conformed to the times; and this good father instructs us in the principles of Catholic religion. On the eve of the feast of the Nativity of Christ, my lady stayed in the chapel from eight at night till two in the morning; but sent us to bed at nine, after the litanies were said, until eleven, when there was a sermon, and at twelve o'clock three masses said, which being ended we broke our fast with a mince-pie, and went again to bed. And all the Christmas-time we were allowed two hours after each meal for recreation, instead of one. At other times, we play not at any game for money; but then we had a shilling a-piece to make us merry; which my grandmother says is fitting in this time of mirth and joy for his birth who is the sole origin and spring of true comfort. And now, sweet Mistress Constance, I must bid you farewell; for the greatest of joys has befallen me, and a whole holiday to enjoy it. My sweet Lord Dacre is come to pay his duty to my lady and tarry some days here, on his way to Thetford, the Duke of Norfolk's seat, where his grace and the duchess my good mother have removed. He is a beauty, Mistress Constance; and nature has so profusely conferred on him privileges, that when her majesty the queen saw him a short time back on horseback, in the park at Richmond, she called him to her carriage-door and honored him with a kiss, and the motto of the finest boy she ever beheld. But I may not run on in this fashion, letting my pen outstrip modesty, like a foolish creature, making my brother a looking-glass and continual object for my eyes; but learn to love him, as my grandam says, in God, of whom he is only borrowed, and not so as to set my heart wholly on him. So beseeching God bless you and yours, good Mistress Constance, I ever remain, your loving friend and humble servant,
"ANN DACRE."
Oh, how soon were my Lady Mounteagle's words exalted in the event! andwhat a sad brief note was penned by that affectionate sister not onemonth after she writ those lines, so full of hope and pleasure in theprospect of her brother's sweet company! For the fair boy that was thecontinual object of her eyes and the dear comfort of her heart wasaccidentally slain by the fall of a vaulting horse upon him at theduke's house at Thetford.
"MY GOOD MISTRESS CONSTANCE" (she wrote, a few days after his lamentable death),--"The lovingest brother a sister ever had, and the most gracious creature ever born, is dead; and if it pleased God I wish I were dead too, for my heart is well-nigh broken. But I hope in God his soul is now in heaven, for that he was so young and innocent; and when here, a short time ago, my grandmother procured that he should for the first, and as it has pleased God also for the only and the last, time, confess and be absolved by a Catholic priest, in the which the hand of Providence is visible to our great comfort, and reasonable hope of his salvation. Commending him and your poor friend, who has great need of them, to your good prayers, I remain your affectionate and humble servant,
"ANN DACRE."
In that year died also, in childbirth, her grace the Duchess ofNorfolk, Mistress Ann's mother; and she then wrote in a lesspassionate, but withal less comfortable, grief than at her brother'sloss, and, as I have heard since, my Lady Mounteagle had herdeath-blow at that time, and never lifted up her head again asheretofore. It was noticed that ever after she spent more time inprayer and gave greater alms. Her daughter, the duchess, who at theinstance of her husband had conformed to the times, desired to havebeen reconciled on her deathbed by a priest, who for that end wasconducted into the garden, yet could not have access unto her byreason of the duke's vigilance to hinder it, or at least of hiscontinual presence in her chamber at the time. And soon after, hisgrace, whose wards they were, sent for his three step-daughters to theCharterhouse; the parting with which, and the fears she entertainedthat he would have them carried to services and sermons in the publicchurches, and hinder them in the exercise of Catholic faith andworship, drove the sword yet deeper through my Lady Mounteagle'sheart, and brought down her gray hairs with sorrow to the grave,notwithstanding that the duke greatly esteemed and respected her, andwas a very moral nobleman, of exceeding good temper and moderatedisposition. But of this more anon, as 'tis my own history I amwriting, and it is meet I should relate in the order of time whatevents came under my notice whilst in Lichfield, whither mymother carried me, as has been aforesaid, to be treated by a famousphysician for a severe hurt I had received. It was deemed convenientthat I should tarry some time under his care; and Mr. Genings, akinsman of her own, who with his wife and children resided in thattown, one of the chiefest in the county, offered to keep me in theirhouse as long as was convenient thereunto a kindness which my parentsthe more readily accepted at his hands from their having often shownthe like unto his children when the air of the country was desired forthem.
Mr. and Mrs. Genings were of the religion by law established. He wasthought to be Catholic at heart; albeit he was often heard to speakvery bitterly against all who obeyed not the queen in conforming tothe new mode of worship, with the exception, indeed, of my mother, forwhom he had always a truly great affection. This gentleman's house wasin the close of the cathedral, and had a garden to it well stored withfair shrubs and flowers of vario
us sorts. As I lay on a low settlenear the window, being forbid to walk for the space of three weeks, myeyes were ever straying from my sampler to the shade and sunshine outof doors. Instead of plying at my needle, I watched the bees at theirsweet labor midst the honeysuckles of the porch, or the swallowsdarting in and out of the eaves of the cathedral, or the butterfliesat their idle sports over the beds of mignonette and heliotrope underthe low wall, covered with ivy, betwixt the garden and the close. Mr.Genings had two sons, the eldest of which was some years older and theother younger than myself. The first, whose name was Edmund, had beenweakly when a child, and by reason of this a frequent sojourner atSherwood Hall, where he was carried for change of air after the manyillnesses incident to early age. My mother, who was some years marriedbefore she had a child of her
Constance Sherwood: An Autobiography of the Sixteenth Century Page 4