THE

CURIOUS CASE

OF

LADY PURBECK

A SCANDAL OF THE XVIITH CENTURY

BY THE AUTHOR OF

"THE LIFE OF SIR KENELM DIGBY," "THE ADVENTURES
OF KING JAMES II.," "MARSHAL TURENNE"
"THE LIFE OF A PRIG," ETC.

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA

1909

PREFACE

THE curious case of Lady Purbeck is here presented withoutembellishment, much as it has been found in old books and oldmanuscripts, chiefly at the Record Office and at the British Museum.Readers must not expect to find any "well-drawn characters," "finedescriptions," "local colour," or "dramatic talent," in these pages,on each of which Mr. Dry-as-dust will be encountered. Possibly somewriter of fiction, endowed with able hands directed by an imaginativemind, may some day produce a readable romance from the rough-hewnmatter which they contain: but, as their author's object has been totell the story simply, as it has come down to us, and, as much as waspossible, to let the contemporaries of the heroine tell it in theirown words, he has endeavoured to suppress his own imagination, his ownemotions, and his own opinions, in writing it. He has the pleasure ofacknowledging much useful assistance and kind encouragement in thislittle work from Mr. Walter Herries Pollock.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

Sir Edward Coke—Lady Elizabeth Hatton—Bacon—Marriage of Cokeand Lady Elizabeth—Birth of the Heroine

1

CHAPTER II.

Rivalry of Coke and Bacon—Quarrelling between Coke and LadyElizabeth—Coke offends the King and loses his offices—Letter ofBacon to Coke

10

CHAPTER III.

Coke tries to regain the favour of Buckingham and the King by offeringhis daughter to Sir John Villiers—Anger of Lady Elizabeth—LadyElizabeth steals away with her daughter

21

CHAPTER IV.

Coke besieges his wife and carries off his daughter—Coke and Winwoodv. Lady Elizabeth and Bacon—Charges and counter-charges

30

CHAPTER V.

Lady Elizabeth tries to recover her daughter—Her scheme for a matchbetween Frances Coke and the Earl of Oxford—Bacon, finding thathe has offended both Buckingham and the King, turns round andfavours the match with Villiers—Trial of Lady Exeter—Imprisonmentof Lady Elizabeth at an Alderman's house

39

CHAPTER VI.

Frances is tortured into consent—The marriage—Lady Elizabeth comesinto royal favour and Coke falls out of it—Lady Elizabeth'sdinner-party to the King—Carleton and his wife quarrel abouther

52

CHAPTER VII.

Buckingham ennobles his own family—Villiers becomes LordPurbeck—Purbeck and the Countess of Buckingham becomeCatholics—Rumours that Purbeck is insane

64

...