[[A.D. 1452.]] About this time Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, one of Margaret's most devoted friends, was killed in battle. A magnificent volume of sketches that he presented to her shows that he must have had great taste for the fine arts. The colored title-page represents the king and queen seated side by side on a low divan. Margaret wears a royal crown; her hair is of a pale golden color, and falls gracefully over her shoulders. Her mantle is of royal purple, fastened with gems and bands of gold. She is beautiful and majestic in this picture, and does not appear more than twenty years old. Talbot kneels before her presenting the volume, with his dog by his side. Daisies are painted in clusters on the title-page, and the queen's initial (M) is surrounded by the garter and its motto. The ladies in attendance who stand behind the divan wear heart-shaped caps, formed of a stuffed roll ornamented with gold and jewels, and fastened in a fanciful turban shape over a close cap of gold cloth or net-work brought to a point in front and rising at the back of the head. At the end of the volume is an allegorical picture representing Margaret and the ladies of her court as the Virtues. Margaret is Faith and King Henry appears as Honor. The old earl was mourned by all classes of people, for he was the greatest captain of the age. [[A.D. 1453.]] It was in this year that the queen's dearly loved mother died, and a still heavier calamity fell upon the royal household in the fearful malady that began to show itself in the king. He had inherited the brain disease {296}of his grandfather, Charles VI. of France, and the trouble in his court had so affected him that his reason gave way under it. Margaret was therefore compelled to govern alone, whether she desired it or no, and, like a good wife, she made every effort to keep her poor ailing husband in ignorance of all political disturbance. She had him removed to his palace at Westminster, where he could be quiet and kept free from all excitement, and it was there that his only child, the unfortunate Edward of Lancaster, called "The child of sorrow," was born. This boy was named Edward, and was York's only rival to the throne. He was therefore not welcome to the nation, who felt that his existence would be the cause of much bloodshed between the two parties of York and Lancaster. At this period Queen Margaret was ruling, with the assistance of Cardinal Kemp, Archbishop of Canterbury, but he died a few months after the prince was born, and the House of Lords sent a committee to the king to request him to name a successor. But poor Henry stared at them without understanding a word they said, and of course could make no reply. The Duke of York was then appointed defender and protector of the king as long as his illness lasted, or until Prince Edward should be old enough to ascend the throne. Five physicians and surgeons were appointed to attend the royal sufferer and watch over his health.