Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-12-08

about II. l near nOCnlnS out MARY
is coming! Mary is coming! Mary!
Nary from morning until night. They
say Buckingham is beside himself for
love Of her. He has wife at home, If
1 am right. and Is old enough to be her
father. Is he not?" assented. and
Brandon continued: "A man who will
make such a fool of himself about a
woman is woefully weak. The men of
the court must be poor creatures"
He had much to learn about the
power of womanhood. There is moth
ing on earth-but you know as much
about 1t as do.
"Wait until you see her." l answered,
"and you will be one Of them also. /
aatter you by giving you one hour with
her to be heels over head in love. With
an ordinary man it takes one-sixtieth
Of that time. So you see pay a COM
pliment to your strength Of mind"
"Nonsense." broke in Brandon. do
you think | left all my wits down in
Suffolk? Why. man. she Is the sister
of the king and is sought by kings and
emperors. might as we'll fall In love
with twinkling star. Then, besides.
my heart Is not on my sleeve. You
must think me fool-a poor. enervat-
ed, simpering fool like-like-well. like
one of those mobiles Of England. Don't
put me down with them, Caskoden. If
you would remain my friend
We both laughed at this sort Of talk,
which was little in advance Of the
time for noble. though an idiot to the
most of England was noble still. God
created and to be adored.
Now. when Mary returned the whole
court rejoiced. and was anxious tor
Brandon to meet her and that they
should become friends. There would
be no trouble in bringing this meeting
about. since. as you know. l was upon
terms Of intimate friendship with Ma
ry and was the avowed and, as l
thought. at least hoped. all but accept
ed lover Of her first lady in waiting and
dearest friend. Lady Jane Bolingbroke.
Brandon. It is true. was not noble, not
even an English knight. while / was
both knighted and noble. but he was
Of as old family as England boasted
and near of kin to some Of the best
blood Of the land. The meeting came
about sooner than expected and was
very near a failure. 1t was on the sec
ond morning after Mary's arrival at
Greenwich. Brandon and were walk
ing in the palace park when we met
Jane. and took tho opportunity to
make these. my two best loved friends
acquainted.
"How do you do, Master BrandonT'
said Lady Jane, holding out her plump
little hand. so white and soft and dear
to ME. IL have heard something Of you
the last day or so from Sir Edwin, but
had begun to fear he was not going to
give me the pleasure of knowing you.
I hope l may see you often now and
that l may present you to my mis-
tress."
With this her eyes, bright as over
grown dewdrops, twinkled with a mis-
chievous little smile, as If to say, "Ah.
mother large handsome fellow to make
a fool Of himself"
Brandon acquiesced in the wish she
had made, and after the interchange
Of q few words Jane said her mistress
was waiting at the other side OF the
grounds and that she must 60. She
then ran off with laugh and a cour-
tesy and was soon lost to sight behind
the shrubbery at the turning Of the
walk.
In a short time we came to summer
house near the marble boat landing,
where we found the queen and some
Of her ladies awaiting the rest Of their
party for d trip down the river which
had been planned the day before. Bran
don was known to tie queen and sever
al Of the ladies. although he had not
been formally presented at an audi
ence. Many Of the kings friends en-
joyed q considerable intimacy with the
whole court without ever receiving the
public stamp Of recognition socially
which goes with formal presentation.
The queen, seeing US, sent me of to
bring the king. After I had gone she
asked if any one had seen the Princess
Mary, and Brandon told her Lady Jane
had said she was at the other side Of
the grounds. Thereupon her majesty
asked Brandon to find the princess and
to say that she was wanted.
Brandon started off and soon found
a bevy Of girls sitting on some benches
under spreading oak, weaving spring
flowers. He had never seen the prin-
cess, so could not positively know her.
As a matter of fact he did know her as
soon as his eyes rested on her, for she
could not be mistaken among a thou
sand. There was no one like her or any
thing near it. Some stubborn spirit of
opposition, however, prompted him to
pretend ignorance. All that he had
heard of her wonderful power over
men and the servile manner In which
they fell before her had aroused in
him spirit Of antagonism and had be-
gotten a kind Of distaste beforehand.
He was wrong in this, because Mary
was not coquette in any sense Of the
word and did absolutely nothing to at
tract men except to be so beautiful,
sweet and winning that they could not
let her alone. for all Of which surely
the prince Of fault finders himself could
in no way blame her.
She could not help that God had seen
fit to make her the fairest being on
earth, and the responsibility would
have to lie where it belonged-with