William Harrison Ainsworth

Windsor Castle

An Historical Romance

Warsaw 2022

Contents

BOOK I. ANNE BOLEYN

CHAPTER I. Of the Earl of Surrey’s solitary Ramble in the Home Park—Of the Vision beheld by him in the Haunted Dell—And of his Meeting with Morgan Fenwolf, the Keeper, beneath Herne’s Oak

CHAPTER II. Of Bryan Bowntance, the Host of the Garter—Of the Duke of Shoreditch—Of the Bold Words uttered by Mark Fytton, the Butcher, and how he was cast into the Vault of the Curfew Tower

CHAPTER III. Of the Grand Procession to Windsor Castle—Of the Meeting of King Henry the Eighth and Anne Boleyn at the Lower Gate-Of their Entrance into the Castle—And how the Butcher was Hanged from the Curfew Tower

CHAPTER IV. How King Henry the Eighth held a Chapter of the Garter—How he attended Vespers and Matins in Saint George’s Chapel—And how he feasted with the Knights—Companions in Saint George’s Hall

CHAPTER V. Of the Ghostly Chase beheld by the Earl of Surrey and the Duke of Richmond in Windsor Forest

CHAPTER VI. How the Fair Geraldine bestowed a Relic upon her Lover—How Surrey and Richmond rode in the Forest at Midnight—And where they found the Body of Mark Fytton, the Butcher

CHAPTER VII. How the Earl of Surrey and the Fair Geraldine plighted their troth in the Cloisters of Saint George’s Chapel

CHAPTER VIII. Of Tristram Lyndwood, the old Forester, and his Grand-daughter Mabel—Of the Peril in which the Lady Anne Boleyn was placed during the chase—And by whom she was rescued

CHAPTER IX. By what means Sir Thomas Wyat obtained an Interview with Anne Boleyn—And how the Earl of Surrey saved them from the King’s anger

CHAPTER X. Of the Mysterious Disappearance of Herne the Hunter in the Lake

BOOK II. HERNE THE HUNTER

CHAPTER I. Of the Compact between Sir Thomas Wyat and Herne the Hunter

CHAPTER II. In what manner Wolsey put his Scheme into Operation

CHAPTER III. Of the Visit of the Two Guildford Merchants to the Forester’s Hut

CHAPTER IV. How Herne the Hunter showed the Earl of Surrey the Fair Geraldine in a Vision

CHAPTER V. What befell Sir Thomas Wyat in the Sandstone Cave—And how he drank a maddening Potion

CHAPTER VI. How Sir Thomas Wyat hunted with Herne

CHAPTER VII. How Wyat beheld Mabel Lyndwood—And how he was rowed by Morgan Fenwolf upon the Lake

CHAPTER VIII. How the King and the Duke of Suffolk were assailed by Herne’s Band—And what followed the Attack

CHAPTER IX. Showing how Morgan Fenwolf escaped from the Garter Tower

CHAPTER X. How Herne the Hunter was himself hunted

BOOK III. THE HISTORY OF THE CASTLE

CHAPTER I. Comprising the First Two Epochs in the History of Windsor Castle

CHAPTER II. Comprising the Third Great Epoch in the History of the Castle—And showing how the Most Noble Order of the Garter was instituted

CHAPTER III. Comprising the Fourth Epoch in the History of the Castle—And showing how Saint George’s Chapel was rebuilt by King Edward the Fourth

CHAPTER IV. Containing the History of the Castle from the Reign of Charles the Second to that of George the Third—With a few Particulars concerning the Parks and the Forest

CHAPTER V. The Last Great Epoch in the History of the Castle

BOOK IV. CARDINAL WOLSEY

CHAPTER I. Of the Interview between Henry and Catherine of Arragon in the Urswick Chapel—And how it was interrupted

CHAPTER II. How Herne the Hunter appeared to Henry on the Terrace

CHAPTER III. How Mabel Lyndwood was taken to the Castle by Nicholas Clamp— And how they encountered Morgan Fenwolf by the way

CHAPTER IV. How Mabel was received by the Party in the Kitchen—And of the Quarrel between the two Jesters

CHAPTER V. Of the Combat between Will Sommers and Patch—And how it terminated

CHAPTER VI. The Legend of Herne the Hunter

CHAPTER VII. Of the Mysterious Noise heard in the Curfew Tower

CHAPTER VIII. Showing the Vacillations of the King between Wolsey and Anne Boleyn

CHAPTER IX. How Tristram Lyndwood was interrogated by the King

CHAPTER X. Of the Brief Advantage gained by the Queen and the Cardinal

CHAPTER XI. How Tristram Lyndwood and Mabel were liberated

CHAPTER XII. How Wolsey was disgraced by the King

BOOK V. MABEL LYNDWOOD

CHAPTER I. How the Earl of Surrey and the Fair Geraldine met in King James’s Bower in the Moat—And how they were surprised by the Duke of Richmond

CHAPTER II. How Sir Thomas Wyat found Mabel in the Sandstone Cave, and what happened to him there

CHAPTER III. In what manner Herne declared his Passion for Mabel

CHAPTER IV. How Sir Thomas Wyat was visited by Herne in the Cell

CHAPTER V. How Mabel escaped from the Cave with Sir Thomas Wyat

CHAPTER VI. Of the Desperate Resolution formed by Tristram and Fenwolf, and how the Train was laid

CHAPTER VII. How the Train was fired, and what followed the Explosion

BOOK VI. JANE SEYMOUR

CHAPTER I. Of Henry’s Attachment to Jane Seymour

CHAPTER II. How Anne Boleyn received Proof of Henry’s Passion for Jane Seymour

CHAPTER III. What passed between Norris and the Tall Monk

CHAPTER IV. Of the Secret Interview between Norris and Anne Boleyn, and of the Dissimulation practised by the King

CHAPTER V. What happened at the Jousts

CHAPTER VI. What passed between Anne Boleyn and the Duke of Suffolk, and how Herne the Hunter appeared to her in the Oratory

CHAPTER VII. How Herne appeared to Henry In the Home Park

CHAPTER VIII. The Signal Gun

BOOK I. ANNE BOLEYN

CHAPTER I. Of the Earl of Surrey’s solitary Ramble in the Home Park–Of the Vision beheld by him in the Haunted Dell–And of his Meeting with Morgan Fenwolf, the Keeper, beneath Herne’s Oak.

In the twentieth year of the reign of the right high and puissant King Henry the Eighth, namely, in 1529, on the 21st of April, and on one of the loveliest evenings that ever fell on the loveliest district in England, a fair youth, having somewhat the appearance of a page, was leaning over the terrace wall on the north side of Windsor Castle, and gazing at the magnificent scene before him. On his right stretched the broad green expanse forming the Home Park, studded with noble trees, chiefly consisting of ancient oaks, of which England had already learnt to be proud, thorns as old or older than the oaks, wide-spreading beeches, tall elms, and hollies. The disposition of these trees was picturesque and beautiful in the extreme. Here, at the end of a sweeping vista, and in the midst of an open space covered with the greenest sward, stood a mighty broad-armed oak, beneath whose ample boughs, though as yet almost destitute of foliage, while the sod beneath them could scarcely boast a head of fern, couched a herd of deer. There lay a thicket of thorns skirting a sand-bank, burrowed by rabbits, on this hand grew a dense and Druid-like grove, into whose intricacies the slanting sunbeams pierced; on that extended a long glade, formed by a natural avenue of oaks, across which, at intervals, deer were passing. Nor were human figures wanting to give life and interest to the scene. Adown the glade came two keepers of the forest, having each a couple of buckhounds with them in leash, whose baying sounded cheerily amid the woods. Nearer the castle, and bending their way towards it, marched a party of falconers with their well-trained birds, whose skill they had been approving upon their fists, their jesses ringing as they moved along, while nearer still, and almost at the foot of the terrace wall, was a minstrel playing on a rebec, to which a keeper, in a dress of Lincoln green, with a bow over his shoulder, a quiver of arrows at his back, and a comely damsel under his arm, was listening.

On the left, a view altogether different in character, though scarcely less beautiful, was offered to the gaze. It was formed by the town of Windsor, then not a third of its present size, but incomparably more picturesque in appearance, consisting almost entirely of a long straggling row of houses, chequered black and white, with tall gables, and projecting storeys skirting the west and south sides of the castle, by the silver windings of the river, traceable for miles, and reflecting the glowing hues of the sky, by the venerable College of Eton, embowered in a grove of trees, and by a vast tract of well-wooded and well- cultivated country beyond it, interspersed with villages, churches, old halls, monasteries, and abbeys.

Taking out his tablets, the youth, after some reflection, traced a few lines upon them, and then, quitting the parapet, proceeded slowly, and with a musing air, towards the north west angle of the terrace. He could not be more than fifteen, perhaps not so much, but he was tall and well-grown, with slight though remarkably well-proportioned limbs; and it might have been safely predicted that, when arrived at years of maturity, he would possess great personal vigour. His countenance was full of thought and intelligence, and he had a broad lofty brow, shaded by a profusion of light brown ringlets, a long, straight, and finely-formed nose, a full, sensitive, and well-chiselled mouth, and a pointed chin. His eyes were large, dark, and somewhat melancholy in expression, and his complexion possessed that rich clear brown tint constantly met with in Italy or Spain, though but seldom seen in a native of our own colder clime. His dress was rich, but sombre, consisting of a doublet of black satin, worked with threads of Venetian gold; hose of the same material, and similarly embroidered; a shirt curiously wrought with black silk, and fastened at the collar with black enamelled clasps; a cloak of black velvet, passmented with gold, and lined with crimson satin; a flat black velvet cap, set with pearls and goldsmith’s work, and adorned with a short white plume; and black velvet buskins. His arms were rapier and dagger, both having gilt and graven handles, and sheaths of black velvet.

As he moved along, the sound of voices chanting vespers arose from Saint George’s Chapel; and while he paused to listen to the solemn strains, a door, in that part of the castle used as the king’s privy lodgings, opened, and a person advanced towards him. The new-comer had broad, brown, martial-looking features, darkened still more by a thick coal-black beard, clipped short in the fashion of the time, and a pair of enormous moustachios. He was accoutred in a habergeon, which gleamed from beneath the folds of a russet-coloured mantle, and wore a steel cap in lieu of a bonnet on his head, while a long sword dangled from beneath his cloak. When within a few paces of the youth, whose back was towards him, and who did not hear his approach, he announced himself by a loud cough, that proved the excellence of his lungs, and made the old walls ring again, startling the jackdaws roosting in the battlements.

“What! composing a vesper hymn, my lord of Surrey?” he cried with a laugh, as the other hastily thrust the tablets, which he had hitherto held in his hand, into his bosom. “You will rival Master Skelton, the poet laureate, and your friend Sir Thomas Wyat, too, ere long. But will it please your lord-ship to quit for a moment the society of the celestial Nine, and descend to earth, while I inform you that, acting as your representative, I have given all needful directions for his majesty’s reception to-morrow?,’

“You have not failed, I trust, to give orders to the groom of the chambers for the lodging of my fair cousin, Mistress Anne Boleyn, Captain Bouchier?” inquired the Earl of Surrey, with a significant smile.

“Assuredly not, my lord!” replied the other, smiling in his turn. “She will be lodged as royally as if she were Queen of England. Indeed, the queen’s own apartments are assigned her.”

“It is well,” rejoined Surrey. “And you have also provided for the reception of the Pope’s legate, Cardinal Campeggio?”

Bouchier bowed.

“And for Cardinal Wolsey?” pursued the other.

The captain bowed again.

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