Ledam wulde a do hys wyse to a mad a complent to Pryothe[329.6] in the scher-howse of yow, and Byllyng consallyd hym to leve, and tolde Ledam ye and he wer no felawys, and sayd to Ledam, ‘That is the gyse of yowr contre men, to spend alle the good they have on men and lewery gownys, and hors and harnes, and so beryt owth for j wylle [bear it out for a while], and at the laste they arn but beggars; and so wyll ye do. I wylde ye schull do wyll, be cause ye ar a felaw in Grays In, wer I was a felaw. As for Paston, he ys a swyr [squire] of wurchyp, and of gret lyvelode, and I wothe he wyll not spend alle hys good as [at?] onys, but he sparyt yerly C. mark, or j. C. li. [£100]; he may do his ennemy a scherewd turne and never far the warse in hys howsholde, ner the lesse men abowthe hym. Ye may not do so, but if yt be for j. [one] sesun. I consayll yow not to contenu long as ye do. I wulle consalle yow to seke reste wyth Paston.’
And I thankkyd Byllyng on yowr behalfe.
God have yow in hys kepyng.
Be yowr por Brodyr, Wyllyam Paston.
Meche odyr thyng I can telle an I had lesur. Recomande me to my suster Margeth [and] my cosyn Elizabeth Clyr, I pray yow.
[329.2] [From Fenn, i. 72.] The date of this letter is fixed by the fact referred to in Note 3, and by Sir John Fastolf’s going into Norfolk, which, though delayed a little later than is here projected, certainly did take place in 1454. See another letter of William Paston further on, dated 6th September.
[329.3] Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter. On the 24th July the Duke of York was charged by the Privy Council to convey him to Pomfret Castle.—See Nicolas’s Privy Council Proceedings, vi. 217.
[329.4] Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, who was committed to the Tower in the end of the year 1453.—See [p. 290, Note 1].
[329.5] Stephen Scroope, Sir John Fastolf’s ward, son of Lady Fastolf, by her former husband.
[329.6] John Prisot, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.