Isabel de Warenne to Margaret de Beaumont

[Isabel de Warenne]

Isabel de Warenne, by right Countess of Surrey, to Lady Margaret, daughter of the Earl of Leicester, warmest greetings on this felicitous occasion.

Ever since my husband informed me of the bittersweet news from France, of one King lost and another found, I have found my mind turning with joy to the thought of seeing you once more on the occasion of the coronation, where surely your father and husband will do their homage to dearest brother Richard. In light of that fondness which the memory of your emergent grace, witnessed by all some nine years past when your mother hosted our delighted company that Michaelmas eve, stirs in my spirit, it is my hope that you will have the generosity of spirit to open the door of your ear to my words, and not to discount them as the ravings of a woman much past her prime.

You see, not one week ago, Hamelin and I had the misfortune to hear the complaint of a tapster from the area just south of Southwark. This man was a hardworking sort, used to a fair amount of traffic, not all of it disreputable, from people making their way to and from and the City of London, where one assumes they attended to their commerce. He had been at this trade for some twenty years, he explained, and it was not uncommon in his experience for disputes among the commonfolk to be settled in fisticuffs at Southwark, or else by agreed-upon monetary settlements. But this happy custom would from time to time be broken when knights passing by that way found fault with one another, and only combat in an honorable matter would suffice to resolve these disputes. So far, no grave matter, for who among our class has failed to see such behavior among our gentlemen every second day of the week? But the specific instance should interest you, your father, and especially your uncle, for this tapster had the misfortune to witness a disagreement between a man dressed in the livery of the Earl of Warwick, bearing his badge and emblem, or at least as fair a representation of it as Hamelin or I have seen, when the Tapster's son reproduced the image in a drawing, and a knight in the service of William d'Aubigny.

The circumstances were somewhat confused, I own because the tapster himself saw nothing of the crucial moments leading up to the spasm of violence which nearly ended in the death of d'Aubigny's man, but it seems that this man of Arundel averred that the man wearing the livery of the Earl of Warwick was no Earl at all, let alone the Earl of Warwick, to which, it seems, the man claiming to be the Earl took much offense and smote him across the brow with his gauntleted hand. And so battle was joined, the details of which were told in such exhaustive detail as to be exhausting, but which ended with the Arundel knight having to be put up in the inn to recuperate for a fortnight.

Now, it seemed to me that it was not outside of the realm of possibility for one of our rank to get into a squabble with a man who slighted his honor, but doing that much damage to a man did not sound very much like your sainted Uncle, and it seemed to me prudent to warn you of this apparent imposter gallivanting about the environs of London on Warwick's name and honor. You may do with this information what you will, of course. The news is spreading rapidly enough in these parts anyway, and I should hate for dear Warwick to be surprised by the situation he may find among the people of Westminster.

And that is all for you and I at this time, save that I commend you to the keeping of the Good King Jesus, who will shepherd you down to our part of the country to see our dear brother crowned in his name. There, I shall greet you with all the warmth I can muster. But for now I must remain

Yours of Fond Memory,
Isabel de Warenne, Countess of Surrey

[Margaret de Beaumont]

Margaret de Beaumont, daughter of the Earl of Leicester, wife of Saer da Quincy and, by God’s grace, a free Englishwoman to the Countess Surrey, Isabel de Warenne, on the occasion of receiving your letter,

I too have spent the odd hour between prayer and contemplation considering if I would my old acquaintances renew. How joyful, then, your letter was to me to find our thoughts are of the same persuasion. For is it not said by Cicero, “A friend is, as it were, a second self.” So I greet your letter as one from myself.

I do see the cause of your concern, indeed the very kernel of it. However, I must but wonder if perhaps the sower of this seed is to be trusted thoroughly. Does John not say, upon the occasion of his first letter, “do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

I shall consult Father and deliver your words to his ear. While this may indeed be a false Warwick, my own council avers that though Warwick is Nobel and often most kind, it would put upon any man who has been called by God to the weight of Earldom to hear that others thought them not so. My husband, Saer Da Quincy, suggests that Knight of Arundel should perhaps be grateful he spoke thusly in England, for in my husband’s native land such scurrilous talk would be grounds for a Blood Feud. One speaks against the Lord at his peril, and thus also does one who speaks ill of His anointed.

I hope to speak with you further in the coming days and find myself most happy that you have written me. Well I remember that Michaelmas and hope that we may rekindled that godly relationship ere I return to France or Scotland.

I remain, by the grace of God,
Margaret de Beaumont