t inaccessible, it possessed the
extraordinary powers of defence that were necessary in those troublous
times, and here its founder gave a grand tournament, to which young
knights came from far and near, the successful knight of Lorraine being
rewarded by his daughter's hand. In the time of Edward III. this "Castle
of the Peak" reverted to the Crown, but now it is held by the Duke of
Devonshire. Under the hill on which the ruins stand is the "Cavern of
the Peak," with a fine entrance in a gloomy recess formed by a chasm in
the rocks. This entrance makes a Gothic arch over one thousand feet
wide, above which the rock towers nearly three hundred feet, and it is
chequered with colored stones. Within is a vast flat-roofed cavern, at
the farther side being a lake over which the visitors are ferried in a
boat. Other caverns are within, the entire cave extending nearly a half
mile, a little river traversing its full length. There are more and
similar caverns in the neighborhood.

[Illustration: PEVERIL CASTLE, CASTLETON.]

BESS OF HARDWICKE.

[Illustration: HARDWICKE HALL.]

One of the great characters of the sixteenth century was Elizabeth,
Countess of Shrewsbury, familiarly known as "Bess of Hardwicke," where
she was born, and who managed to outlive four husbands, thus showing
what success is in store for a woman of tact and business talent. She
was a penniless bride at fourteen, when she married an opulent gentleman
of Derbyshire named Barley, who left her at fifteen a wealthy widow. At
the age of thirty she married another rich husband, Sir William
Cavendish, the ancestor of the Dukes of Devonshire, who died in 1557,
leaving her again a widow, but with large estates, for she had taken
good care to look after the proper marriage settlements; and in fact,
even in those early days, a pretty good fortune was necessary to provide
for the family of eight children Sir William left her. She next married
Sir William Loe, who also had large estates and was the captain of the
king's guard, the lady's business tact procuring in advance of the
wedding the settlement of these estates upon herself and her children--a
hard condition, with which, the historian tells us, "the gallant
captain, who had a family by a former marriage, felt himself constrained
to comply or forego his bride." But in time the captain died, and his
estates all went to the thrifty lady, to the exclusion of his own
family; and to the blooming widow, thus made f