I., France. Scudamore to Windebank, I/121 July,
1636.

[98] _S.P. Dom._, Charles I., Vol. CCCXLIV., No. 58. Sir Kenelm Digby
to Edward Lord Conway and Kilultagh, 21/31 January, 1637.

[99] Wimbledon was Governor of Portsmouth and the letter in question
was probably one mentioned by Walpole in his _Royal and Noble
Authors_, to the Mayor of Portsmouth "reprehending him for the
Townsmen not pulling off their hats to a Statue of the King Charles,
which his Lordship had erected there." Such an "epistle" might well
excite the derision and contempt of Sir Kenelm.

[100] The author of _Annales Ecclesiastici_.

CHAPTER XIII.

"To err is human, to forgive divine."
POPE.

Concerning Lady Purbeck's life, after her return to England, we have
the following evidence from _Coles' Manuscripts_. Let us observe,
first, that in the extract there is a mistake. It was not Lady
Purbeck, but the wife of her son, whose maiden name was Danvers.
Anybody who may choose to discredit the whole, on account of this
error, can do so if he pleases; but it is certain that Lord Purbeck
"owned the son" and that the son's grandson, "the Rev. Mr. Villiers,"
claimed "the Title of Earl of Bucks." Therefore we see no reason for
doubting the statement that Lord Purbeck "took his Wife again." The
"after 16 years" would seem to tally with the undoubted facts.

"[101]Lady Purbeck's name Danvers; absent from Husband 16 years: had
by Sir Robert Howard one son who married a Bertie, and took the Title
of Lord Purbeck, which Lady Purbeck's will I have. Lord Purbeck after
16 years took his wife again, and owned the Son, which 2nd Lord
Purbeck had one Son, Father of the Rev. Mr. Villiers, who now claims
the Title of Earl of Bucks. &c."

It will be remembered that even when Lady Purbeck was being proceeded
against for unfaithfulness to her husband, at the instigation of
Buckingham, she was on friendly terms with Lord Purbeck, and that
Buckingham had considerable difficulty in keeping them apart:
consequently it is the less to be wondered at that Lord Purbeck "took
his wife again," after her return from exile. Not only was Lady
Purbeck now a reformed character, but, like Lord Purbeck, she was a
convert to the Catholic Church; and this would probably make him the
more inclined to receive her again as his wife and to trust her for
the future. At the time of their reunion Lady Purbeck must have been
abou