All this was most enjoyable, but it was not good for careful proof-reading.
HERE ENDS THE TALE. SKETCH IN “SPY,” 1912
FOOTNOTES:
[1] George Harley, F.R.S., or the Life of a London Physician.
[2] Lady Brilliana Harley was the daughter of Sir Edward Conway, and was born in the year 1600, at the Brill, of which her father was Governor. She became the third wife of Sir Robert Harley, of Brampton Bryan, in 1623.
From her letters published by the Camden Society one gathers she was a woman of considerable education, and of deep religious feeling imbued with Calvinistic doctrine, while devotion to her home and children is the keynote of her correspondence.
In the Great Rebellion, however, when Sir Robert Harley’s Parliamentary duties necessitated his absence from Brampton Bryan, the Royalists in the neighbourhood of the Castle alleged that Lady Brilliana was sheltering rebels; and, after various threats and efforts to gain possession of the stronghold, a Royalist force under Sir William Vavasour laid siege to Brampton Bryan Castle on July 26th, 1643.
There Lady Brilliana with her children and household, and several neighbours who had joined her in resisting the encroachments of the Royalists, were shut up for six weeks, during which time she, usually spoken of as “the Governess,” conducted the defence with both skill and courage. Shots were daily fired into the Castle and frequently poisoned bullets were used: one of these wounded the cook, who died from its effects; and two ladies among the besieged party were also wounded.