"You think wrong too readily, Jane. When Rupert had told me how dear I was to him, he went to my parents. He said to them, as he held my hand, 'Earl and Countess de Wick, with your permission, this is my Princess;'—and they were glad and proud, for they loved Rupert, and my brothers, who were in his troop, adored him. As for me, when Rupert said 'Matilda,' I was in an ecstasy; and if he took my hand I trembled with delight. I was so happy! So happy! For those heavenly hours I will thank God all my life long."
"But I see not how, even with your father's and mother's consent, you could hope to marry Prince Rupert. Kings and queens would be against it."
"Indeed, it was a most likely consummation. The Prince came to de Wick to arrange loans for the King. You must have heard that at the beginning of the war my father had great wealth which he had made by joining in Sir Thomas Jevery's East and West Indian ventures. He was glad to let King Charles have money, and a great deal of gold was sent, from time to time, as the King needed it. And when the war was over, my father was to have all his loans back, and also be raised to the rank of a Duke. And in those days we never doubted that the King would win; not till Dunbar, not till after cruel Worcester, did we lose hope. And surely you can see that an English Duke's daughter, with a large fortune in money, would be a suitable match for one of the Palatine Princes. Rupert is poor, Jane, his sword is his only fortune. And moreover, Rupert's mother and brothers have been in terror lest he marry a papist. But as for me—you know that I would die, yes, I would burn for my Bible and Book of Common Prayer. More than this, the King was pleased at our engagement, and sent me a jewel in token of it. Alas, it has been an unlucky jewel! I have had only sorrow since it came to me."
"I would get quit of it."
"It is too beautiful. And when the poor King is dead! Oh, dear me! I could not bear to part with it. Do you wonder now that the news of Dunbar made me so cross and sad, and that I was distraught—past myself—after Worcester? All was lost that fatal night."
"I do not wonder, but——"
"Say you are sorry, plain out, Jane. I am past disguise with you, now, and must ask your pity. Think of my father and mother dead of grief, and of my three brothers,—two slain in battle, one wandering, I know not where. Remember that with my father's death, died all hope of the loaned money and the dukedom to the family, and all my own hopes regarding my lover. For without money and rank, I would be no bride for Prince Rupert; a milkmaid were as fit. And when father had been three days in his grave, and I lay at point of death, Anthony Lynn came with his Parliamentary title to our house and lands. I was at his mercy, at his charity, Jane."
"Well, and if so, many favours he and his have received from your family. All he is worth he owes to your father."
"He was kind and respectful; I am very sensible of that. It is a strange thing to count past benefits, Jane; 'tis like remembering eaten bread. If Anthony thought of my father's help, 'tis more than can be believed. But for my jewels, I am a very pauper—a dependent on Sir Thomas Jevery."
"He was your father's friend and partner in business—he is the husband of your aunt."