We do not know exactly what Eleanor thought about it all. Most likely
she was delighted that her beautiful young sister should get a husband
whom she could love, though she was too much afraid of the earl of
Buckingham to approve openly. The bride went back at once to her mother,
and a large sum was allowed by her guardian for her expenses, though
Mary cared but little for the fine clothes and extra servants that were
given her, and busied herself with her books and music as before. If she
wanted amusement, were there not the minstrels and _jongleurs_, singers
and dancers, whom young king Richard had brought over from France; and
could she wish anything better than to sit and listen to their songs,
while she sat close to the window to get light for her embroidery?
As Mary's fourteenth birthday approached, an ever-increasing stir might
be noticed in the castle. Travelling merchants drew up in the courtyard,
accompanied by pack-horses laden with rare silks and velvets and laces.
These were carried into lady Derby's bower, and she and her mother spent
hours in fingering the stuffs and determining which to take and which to
leave. Jewellers too rode down from London, with an escort of armed
servants, for highwaymen were much to be dreaded on the lonely heaths;
and then at last came the journey to Arundel, where Henry was waiting
for Mary; and her wedding day drew near.
Unlike some of the marriages common in those times, as well as these,
this wedding was not merely a matter of riches on one side and high rank
on the other. Henry and Mary loved each other dearly, and nothing ever
came between them. Mary was always ready to be pleased with everything
and everybody, and made friends at once with her sisters-in-law:
Philippa, two years older than herself, and by-and-by to be queen of
Portugal; and Elizabeth, about her own age, who soon after married the
earl of Huntingdon, half-brother of the king. The chapel of Arundel must
have been a fair sight during the ceremony, with all the gallant young
nobles and their youthful wives, and no handsomer pair was present than
king Richard with his queen, Anne of Bohemia, now a bride of two years'
standing. Knowing Mary de Bohun's passionate love of music, Richard had
brought his court minstrels with him, and sweetly they sang through the
banquet which followed the marriage. And never once did the bride's
thoughts stray back to the nuns of St. Clare, or her heart 'blame the
marriage state.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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