Ashby-de-la-Zouch

“ This is past endurance, 'tis monstrous! Whom have I slain, I pray thee tell me?"
"The Derby packman," promptly returned De la Zouch, "and thou knowest
I saw thee do it."
"You lie. I never saw the man until he was dead. Thou shalt prove thy words, Sir Henry de la Zouch," returned the esquire, "or I shall have thee branded as a knave. There is some cause for this, Sir George," he added, turning to the baron, "of which I am in ignorance. I am the victim of some plot."
"Like enough, like enough," returned the baron, sympathetically. "Then you deny the charge? I knew De la Zouch was wrong. ”

“ The artillery major, Peter Hall, bowed gravely to his hostess. "It's extremely kind of such an important personage as yourself, Miss Mosby, to spend a while with a poor foreigner."
He straightened, studied his friend. "Well, Ed, are you in on this project? Our Government needs your help if we are ever to perfect an electric cannon. And you are, remember, still a Union citizen."
"I haven't forgotten, Pete." He regarded Julie Mae's placid face. "It's sort of up to you, Miss Julie. ”

“ The ship for a minute seemed to stand quite still, as if waiting to hear the answer, and each man turned to look at his neighbour.
Then Ashby, jumping down, with a curious set expression on his face, walked up to the mate and said very loud,—
‘Don’t send a man where you’d be frightened to go yourself.’
‘You infernal soger!’ shouted the other, enraged beyond measure at this first sign of rebellion in his victim. ‘Come out here and I’ll show you all about that! ”

“ But who would bear it with the calm fortitude which you have already evinced, my dear Aubrey?"
[Pg 10]
"You speak very kindly, Lord De la Zouch; I trust I shall play the man, now that the time for playing a man's part has come," said Mr. Aubrey, with an air of mingled melancholy and resolution. "I feel an inexpressible consolation in the reflection, that I cannot charge myself with anything unconscientious; and, as for the future, I put my trust in God. ”

“ May we make an exception in favor of so famous a soldier?"
"So villanous a cut-throat," said Zouch to Raleigh, under his breath.
All, however, were for speaking with so famous a man; and in came, in full armor, a short, bull-necked Italian, evidently of immense strength, of the true Cæsar Borgia stamp.
"Will you please to be seated, sir," said Lord Gray coldly.
"I kiss your hands, most illustrious: but I do not sit in an enemy's camp. Ha, my friend Zouch! How has your Signoria fared since we fought side by side at Lepanto? So you too are here, sitting in council on the hanging of me." ”

“ He died on 8 Feb. 1761, and was buried in the church of Kirby-Misperton, where a monument was erected to his memory by some of his former pupils, who also placed a marble tablet, with an elegant Latin inscription, in the three schools over which he had presided (Whitaker, Loidis and Elmete, 291; Gent. Mag. lxiv. pt. ii. pp. 694, 695) . Dr. Thomas Zouch, one of the eminent men whom he educated, published a life of him under the title of ‘The Good Schoolmaster,’ York, 1798, reprinted in vol. ii. ”

“ De la Zouch, intent on ridding himself of his adversary, declared he would give no quarter, and, altering his tactics, he hewed and lunged away with all the temerity of a man who fights for death or victory. ”

“ As the latter would not own himself vanquished, even at Dorothy's request, the conflict was resumed, and this time with swords, and here the inferiority of De la Zouch was soon apparent. Though he was no mean swordsman, yet his opponent was far more than a match for him, and blow after blow was rained down upon him, whilst on his own part Sir Henry was too busily engaged in defending himself to attempt to act on the offensive. ”

“ Individuals there were, he believed—he knew—who would cheerfully enter into the desired security on his behalf; but what a mockery! For them to be asked to secure his payment of the sum, at the time mentioned, was, in effect, palpably asking them to pay the money for him; and in that light they could not but view such an application. The reader will easily understand the potency of such considerations upon so sensitive and high-minded a person as Mr. Aubrey. While revolving these distracting and harassing topics in his mind, the name of Lord De la Zouch always presented itself to him. ”

“ This Richard de Ashby is one of more ambition than you believe. He knows right well, that in the many accidents of the day the good Lord Alured may find his way to the kingdom of Heaven, and then--though he be now but the poor kinsman, treated not so well as many a worthy retainer of the house--he becomes heir presumptive to the title, though to none of the lands, except the small estate of Ashby. ”

“ He and his followers were overpowered, their possessions were seized, and they themselves were dragged to a lonely place in the diocese of Lausanne, north of the lake of Geneva. They were kept in confinement for some time. At last they were released on payment of two hundred florins ransom and on taking an oath not to reveal the names of the brigands. It seems to have been another organised attempt to prevent Zouch getting to Avignon to lay his claims before the pope (ib. ii. 547, 579, cf. p. 549) . However, Benedict showed vigour in defending Zouche against the marauders. ”

“ That any human being could so lose her self-control as to resort to such methods of correction she would not have believed possible.
Then in a flash all the fighting blood of the Ashbys and Seldons boiled, and with a cry of outraged feelings Beverly Ashby laid hold of Miss Woodhull’s flabby arms with a pair of slender muscular hands, backed her by main force against the chair which she had so hastily vacated, and plumped that dumbfounded lady down upon it with a force which made her teeth crack together, as she cried indignantly:
“How dare you touch me! How dare you!” ”

“ Frowning to cover his embarrassment, he took out the last of the Scout's finds. For a moment all of them were struck by the bright colors on the flat surface. The one old man reached out a trembling hand. "Records," he murmured incredulously. "Records such as our own race is said to have once made, long, long ago before Law." ”

“ Every new kid has to sing in his house the first-night. You’ll have to.”
“Oh,” faltered Ashby, “I can’t; I don’t know anything.”
“Can’t get out of it; you must,” said the twin, charmed to see the torture he was inflicting. “So must you, Hair-parting.”
Fisher minor was too knowing a hand to be caught napping. He had had the tip about lamb’s singing from his brother last term, and was prepared. He joined in, therefore, against Ashby.
“What, didn’t you know that, kid? You must be green. I knew it all along.”
“That’s all right,” said Wheatfield. “Now I’m going. ”

“ And yet, in spite of such thoughts as these, Ashby was full of pity for her. He could not help it. And justly so; for hard indeed must that heart have been which could have remained unmoved at such a sight. Never was a bride seen more despairing. There was agony in her face, and in her attitude, and in her gestures. It was not a bride that he saw; it was a victim. It was an altar of sacrifice upon which Katie was to be offered up—not an altar of love.
And thus Ashby, like Harry, stood overwhelmed at this unexpected sight. ”

“ The hardy old Puritan nothing the worse for [Pg 329] this exercise of his lungs, and very little so for the bruise and cut in his encounter with the robbers the evening before, took his seat at Noble’s dinner table at noon, and seemed very sensible of the truly Christian hospitality of his host.
As arguments or any appeals to reason would so evidently be thrown away upon a man under the prejudices and delusions of Sir Roger Zouch, Noble dexterously avoided inflaming the mind of his guest with a discussion on grave matters, and led him to speak on other topics. ”

“ Ashby was perhaps confined in the Fleet at the time by the Yorkist conquerors of Henry VI, who was deposed in 1461. Subsequently the poet would seem to have directed the education of the young Prince Edward, Henry VI's son, until his murder in 1471. For his use Ashby prepared two English poetical treatises—one entitled 'De Activa Pollecia Principis,' which opens with an address to 'Maisters Gower, Chaucer, and Lydgate,' and the second called 'Dicta et Opiniones Diversorum Philosophorum,' with translations into English verse. ”

“ Zouch, prebend of Durham, at Wycliffe, and in October 1773 went to Trinity College, Cambridge. Owing to some brawl he soon migrated to Emmanuel as a fellow-commoner, but did not take a degree. In the autumn of 1776 he made, in company with Dr. ”

“ At this Ashby looked up, and the next instant he was heartily wringing the hand of the new-comer.
"Rivers! Harry Rivers! How are you, my boy? and where in the world did you come from?"
"By Jove! do you know, old fellow," said Harry Rivers, "I call this no end of a piece of good luck? I've been bored to death at Burgos. But come along to my rooms and give an account of yourself." ”

“ The spot where the body had lain was plainly to be seen, marked, both by some blood which must have flowed after the fall from above, and also by a fragment of the Earl's silken pourpoint, which had been caught and torn off by a black thornbush, as he fell.
"They cannot be far off," said the peasant, "for the poor gentleman was a heavy man to carry, and there seemed nobody near when I was here."
"Pshaw!" cried Richard de Ashby, "there might have been a hundred amongst the bushes and trees without your seeing them. However," he continued, eagerly, "let us beat the ground all round. ”

“ Richard de Ashby looked at him with a sneering smiles though his heart was full of wrath, and he answered--
"You must think me some boy, raw from the colleges, and ready to play against you with piped dice. No, no, Dighton! Ellerby, you are mistaken! Being all of us of that kind and character of man who does not trust his neighbour, we must have mutual sureties, that is clear. Now hear me:--I will make over to you by bond, this day, my castle in Hereford, with all the land thereunto appertaining.--You know it well.--In the bond there shall be a clause of redemption ”

“ In early life he was attacked with deafness, which grew on him with increasing years, and he was now in bad health. Moreover, the change would have brought little, if any, pecuniary advantage (Notes and Queries, 3rd ser. vi. 279; Hist. MSS. Comm. 13th Rep. vii. 232–3) .
Zouch died at Sandal Magna on 17 Dec. 1815, and was buried there on 23 Dec., the Rev. James Tate drawing up a Latin inscription for him. ”

“ The Scout yawned, then lifted the ship from the mountain and arrowed it down into the folds of the valley. His visor translated the immediate night into light, showing him the typically repugnant surface features of a type J planet: Foliage, sharp young geology, water flowing in natural beds. A world like a hundred others he'd visited in the name of Law.
When the floor of the valley came up he leveled off, then silently sped along in search of dwellings. Beneath him, on level stretches of land, stood odd four-legged creatures. The dominants of this world? ”

“ The boy stayed near the door, but Richard de Ashby advanced with the porter, the latter bowing low to his lord as he came up.
"Who brought the letter given to my father just before he went out yesterday?" demanded the young Earl, in a stern tone.
"Dickon, the son of Ugtred, the swine-driver, my lord," replied the porter; "he lives hard by, and there he stands." ”

“ Just at this juncture, in answer to the signal of their lord, De la Zouch's hirelings rushed through the already prepared gaps in the tall hedges and fell upon the lovers, taking them completely by surprise.
Dorothy was quickly unhorsed with no more roughness than her own resistance necessitated, but it was not so with her lover. Though Manners had nothing to defend himself with, except the stock of his riding-whip, yet he gave so good an account of himself, and wielded his paltry weapon to so much purpose that he quickly freed himself, and rushed to aid poor Doll. ”

“ To Lady Drelincourt, to Miss Aubrey, to Lord Drelincourt himself, amid the overpowering excitement of the moment, it appeared as though they were in a vivid and dazzling dream; and they felt completely confused and bewildered. Lady De la Zouch, and one or two others of their considerate friends, observing the painful emotions with which Lady Drelincourt and Miss Aubrey were very nearly overcome, succeeded in withdrawing [Pg 528] them for a while from the tumultuous scene into their chambers. ”

“ And notwithstanding the misery of the injured father, a great deal of merriment and jesting was the first effect produced by the complaint of the host.
"If this tale be true," said Hugh de Monthermer, who had been looking down with a frowning brow, "I would strongly advise Sir Richard de Ashby to mount his horse, put his spurs to the flanks, and not draw a rein till he is safe in Nottingham. There be people about this neighbourhood who are likely to render such a course expedient." ”

“ Local feeling was naturally very strong in favour of Ashby's right to exercise the franchise that he had inherited, and Wharton saw in the affair a sure means of extending whig influence in a borough in which he was already powerful. ”

“ Aubrey assured Lord De la Zouch that he would say everything which he honorably could to induce his sister to entertain, or at all events, not to discard the suit of Delamere; at the same time reminding him of the firmness of her character, and the hopelessness of attempting to change any determination to which she might have been led by her sense of delicacy and honor,—Lord De la Zouch addressed himself in a very earnest manner to matters more immediately relating to the personal interests of Mr. Aubrey; entered with lively anxiety into all his future plans and purposes ”