His Most Dear Ladye; a Story of Mary, Countess of Pembroke, Sister of Sir Philip Sidney

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1906 edition. Excerpt: ... CONCLUSION Little had 1 thought, when of old I had sat waiting for my guardian in the branches of the weeping willow overhanging the clear brown river, at the end of the Deanery garden, that I should ever come to be mistress there. But this had happened when my husband had succeeded his old friend as Dean of Salisbury, and we had come from the little lowly Rectory of Burcombe to make our home in the Deanery, which seemed to me at first a very palace to dwell in, with its spacious panelled rooms and wide oak staircase. One day in the summer of 1621 I was standing by the sundial amidst the clipped yews which glistened in the morning dew, watching my little Philip hanging a daisy-chain about his toddling sister's neck, when I heard the sound of horses' feet on the flag-stones in front of the house. "Come quickly, Philip," I called, "and bid your big sister and small nephew welcome." He came running to me, dragging fat little Mary, who stumbled over her long taffetas frock and apron, by the hand. I caught up my baby girl in my arms, and with Philip clinging to my skirt, went into the hall to greet Ambrosia Crompton, her husband and boy. The three had been on a visit to Ambrosia's godmother, the Dowager Countess of Pembroke, at her fair seat, Houghton Conquest, in Bedfordshire, and Ambrosia, true to her promise, had come to bring me tidings of my dear lady. The tragedy of Lady Arabella Stuart's secret marriage and its piteous sequel, with which Ambrosia had been so deeply concerned, had left its mark upon her. She was now a beautiful stately woman, with grey threads in her raven hair, and a cloud of sadness on her face, which had extinguished much of the brilliance and vivacity of her youth. 'Twas long before Ambrosia would consent to put off...