Memorials of old Northamptonshire . ,It lookd a tower of ruind masonwork; and of all its branches, but one in the summer is able toput forth a few green leaves. The historical story may be quoted in the words ofHabington.^ For the young King, after hunting inWychwood Forrest, coming to visit the Duchess of Bedfordat her manner of Grafton, near Stony Stratford inBuckinghamshire, for a grant of some lands taken fromher Alaintenance,^ was solicited by a fair Petitioner theDuchess Daughter Elizabeth, Widow of Sir John Grey.^The King could not but yield to any Requestmade by so conquering a Beauty,
Memorials of old Northamptonshire . ,It lookd a tower of ruind masonwork; and of all its branches, but one in the summer is able toput forth a few green leaves. The historical story may be quoted in the words ofHabington.^ For the young King, after hunting inWychwood Forrest, coming to visit the Duchess of Bedfordat her manner of Grafton, near Stony Stratford inBuckinghamshire, for a grant of some lands taken fromher Alaintenance,^ was solicited by a fair Petitioner theDuchess Daughter Elizabeth, Widow of Sir John Grey.^The King could not but yield to any Requestmade by so conquering a Beauty, and presently himselfgrew as earnest in solliciting her, though in a more unlaw-ful suit. . She repulsed her enemy so nobly bytelling him : That though she knew herself unworthy to 1 Life of Edward IV., by John Habington. 2 Henry VI. sequestered her dowry on discovering her secret marriagewith Woodville. 3 The Yorkists appear to have withheld from her the estates that wouldhave been her dower; for these she solicited the Hawking Towkr, Park. The Royal Forests. 123 be a Queen, yet she valued her Honour and Person morethan to be the greatest Princes concubine; that heoffered Parly upon more honourable Terms. Despitereasons of State and other arguments, with which hisMother and Friends pressed him passionately, herisked angering King Louis of France and so dangerousa subject as Warwick, by not entering into one of theforeign alhances desired. The fair beauty won the day,and Edward went over to Grafton early on the morningof May 1st, 1464, and was there secretly married to her,none being present, says Fabyan, but the spouse, thespousesse, the Duchess of Bedford, her mother, the priest,two gentlewomen, and a young man who helped the priestsing. Later in the day, the King returned to StonyStratford, as it was supposed, to rest after a days day or two later he invited himself as a guest at Grafton,to enjoy the society of his bride, but the marriage wasnot ma
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