n him.
Then he was made to walk barefoot to the end of the town, and there
was laid down upon his back on a sort of drag, and so drawn to the
place of execution, where his head was cut off on a block with a
broad-axe.

Such facts as these show what a state of exasperation the two great
parties of York and Lancaster were in toward each other throughout the
kingdom. It is necessary to understand this, in order fully to
appreciate the import and consequences of the very extraordinary
transaction which is now to be related.

It seems there was a certain knight named Sir John Gray, a
Lancastrian, who had been killed at one of the great battles which had
been fought during the war. He had also been attainted, as it was
called--that is, sentence had been pronounced against him on a charge
of high treason, by which his estates were forfeited, and his wife
and children, of course, reduced to poverty. The name of his wife was
Elizabeth Woodville. She was the daughter of a noble knight named Sir
Richard Woodville. Her mother's name was Jacquetta. On the death and
attainder of her husband, being reduced to great poverty and distress,
she went home to the house of her father and mother, at a beautiful
manor which they possessed at Grafton. She was quite young, and very
beautiful.

It happened that by some means or other Edward paid a visit one day to
the Lady Jacquetta, at her manor, as he was passing through the
country. Whether this visit was accidental, or whether it was
contrived by Jacquetta, does not appear. However this may be, the
beautiful widow came into the presence of the king, and, throwing
herself at his feet, begged and implored him to revoke the attainder
of her husband for the sake of her innocent and helpless children. The
king was much moved by her beauty and by her distress. From pitying
her he soon began to love her. And yet it seemed impossible that he
should marry her. Her rank, in the first place, was far below his, and
then, what was worse, she belonged to the Lancastrian party, the
king's implacable enemies. The king knew very well that all his own
partisans would be made furious at the idea of such a match, and that,
if they knew that it was in contemplation, they would resist it to the
utmost of their power. For a time he did not know what he should do.
At length, however, his love for the beautiful widow, as might easily
be foreseen, triumphed over all considerations of prudence, and he was
secretly