the base of
the bosom, the under-gown. You may now proceed to vary this by lacing
the V across, but not drawing it together, by having the V fur-edged,
or made to turn over in a collar of black upon light material, or its
opposite, by showing a vest of stuff other than that of the
under-gown, which will then make a variety of colour when the skirt is
held up over the arm. Or you may have your dress so cut that it is
high in front and square cut, and over this you may sew a false V
collar wither to or above the waist. I have said that the whole
neck-opening may be covered by a gorget of cloth, which was pinned up
to the steeple hat, or by a hood of thin stuff or silk, the cape of
which was tucked into the dress.

[Illustration: {A woman of the time of Edward IV.}]

The lady, I think, is now complete down to her long-pointed shoes, her
necklet of stones or gold chain, with cross or heraldic pendant, and
it remains to show that the countrywoman dressed very plainly, in a
decent-fitting dress, with her waist in its proper place, her skirt
full, the sleeves of her dress turned back like my lady's, her head
wrapped in a wimple or warmed in a hood, her feet in plain,
foot-shaped shoes, and wooden clogs strapped on to them for outdoor
use or kitchen work; in fact, she looked much like any old body to-day
who has lived in a village, except that the wimple and the hood then
worn are out of place to-day, more's the pity!

No doubt ladies were just human in those days, and fussed and
frittered over an inch or so of hennin, or a yard or two of train. One
cut her dress too low to please the others, and another wore her
horned head-dress despite the dictates of Fashion, which said, 'Away
with horns, and into steeples.' No doubt the tall hennins, with their
floating veils, looked like black masts with silken sails, and the
ladies like a crowd of shipping, with velvet trains for waves about
their feet; no doubt the steeples swayed and the silks rustled when
the heads turned to look at the fine men in the days when
hump-shouldered Richard was a dandy.

EDWARD THE FIFTH

Reigned two months: April and June, 1487.

RICHARD THE THIRD

Reigned two years: 1483-1485.

Born 1450. Married, 1473, Anne Neville.

THE MEN

[Illustration: {Three men of the time of Edward V. and Richard III.}]

Fashion's pulse beat very weak in the spring of 1483. More attune to
the pipes of Fate were the black cloaks of conspira