of York; and he, in turn, both
by his deportment and personal qualities, well supported his claims to
a royal pedigree. For a time nothing was talked of but the
accomplishments, the misfortunes, and the adventures of the young
Plantagenet; and the curiosity and credulity of England became
thoroughly aroused by the strange tidings which continued to arrive
from France. Sir George Nevill, Sir John Taylor, and many English
gentlemen who entertained no love for the king, repaired to the French
capital to satisfy themselves as to the pretensions of this young man;
and so well had Warbeck's lesson been acquired, that he succeeded in
convincing them of his identity, and in inducing them to pledge
themselves to aid him in his attempt to recover his inheritance.

About this time, however, the breach between France and England was
lessened, and when friendly relations were restored, Henry applied to
have the impostor put into his hands. Charles, refusing to break faith
with a youth who had come to Paris by his own solicitation, refused to
give him up, and contented himself with ordering him to quit the
kingdom. Warbeck thereupon in all haste repaired to the court of
Margaret of Burgundy; but she at first astutely pretended ignorance
of his person and ridiculed his claims, saying that she had been
deceived by Simnel, and was resolved never again to be cajoled by
another impostor. Perkin, who admitted that she had reason to be
suspicious, nevertheless persisted that he was her nephew, the Duke of
York. The duchess, feigning a desire to convict him of imposture
before the whole of her attendants, put several questions to him which
she knew he could readily answer, affected astonishment at his
replies, and, at last, no longer able to control her feelings, "threw
herself on his neck, and embraced him as her nephew, the true image of
Edward, the sole heir of the Plantagenets, and the legitimate
successor to the English throne." She immediately assigned to him an
equipage suited to his supposed rank, appointed a guard of thirty
halberdiers to wait upon him, and gave him the title of "The White
Rose of England"--the symbol of the House of York.

When the news reached England, in the beginning of 1493, that the Duke
of York was alive in Flanders, and had been acknowledged by the
Duchess of Burgundy, many people credited the story; and men of the
highest rank began to turn their eyes towards the new claimant. Lord
Fitzwater, Sir Simon Mo