  
TO JOHN PASTON II 1469,  09, 
10  
I grete &yogh;ow wel and send &yogh;ow Goddys blyssyng and 
myn, letyng &yogh;ow wete &thorn;at on Thurysday last was my moder 
and I where wyth my lord of Norwych, and desyerd hym &thorn;at he 
woold nomore do in &thorn;e matere towscheyng &yogh;owr syster tyl 
&thorn;at &yogh;e and my brothere, and othere &thorn;at wern 
executors to &yogh;owr fader, mythe beyn here to-geder, fore they had 
&thorn;e rule of here as weel as I. And he sayde playnly &thorn;at he 
had be requeryd so oftyn fore to exameyn here &thorn;at he mythe not, 
nore woold, no lengare delayyt, and schargyd me in peyn of cursyng 
&thorn;at sche schuld not be  
deferred but &thorn;at sche xuld a-pere be-forn hym &thorn;e nexte day. 
And I sayd pleynly &thorn;at I woold nowder bryng here nore send 
here; and &thorn;an he sayd &thorn;at he woold send fore here 
hym-sylfe, and schargyd &thorn;at sche schuld be at here lybert&eacute; 
to cume wan he sent fore here. And he seyd be hys trowthe &thorn;at he 
woold be as sory fore here and sche ded not welle as he wold be and 
sche were ryth nere of hys kyn, bothe fore my moderys sake and myn 
and othere of here frenddys; fore he woost welle &thorn;at here 
demenyng had stekyd soore at owr hartys. My moder and I in-formyd 
hym &thorn;at we kowd neuer onderstond be here sayyng, be no 
language &thorn;at euer sche had to hym, &thorn;at neythere of hem 
were bownd to othere, but &thorn;at they myth schese bothe. &thorn;an 
he seyd &thorn;at he woold sey to here as wele as he kowde be-fore 
&thorn;at he exameynd here; and so yt was told me be dyuerse persones 
&thorn;at he ded as welle and as pleynly as sche had be rythe nere to 
hym, wych were to long to wrythe at thys tyme. Hereafty[r] &yogh;e 
xalle wete, and hoo were laberers there-in. &thorn;e schanselere was not 
so gylty there-in as I weend he had ben. On Fryday the Bysschope sent 
fore here be Asschefeld and othere &thorn;at arn ryth sory of here 
demenyng. And &thorn;e Bysschop seyd to here ryth pleynly, and put 
here in rememberawns how sche was born, wat kyn and frenddys 
&thorn;at sche had, and xuld haue mo yf sche were rulyd and gydyd 
aftyre them; and yf sche ded not, wat rebuke and schame and los yt xuld 
be to here yf sche were not gydyd be them, and cause of foresaky[n]g of 
here fore any good ore helpe ore kownfort &thorn;at sche xuld haue of 
hem; and seyd &thorn;at he had hard sey &thorn;at sche loued 
schecheon &thorn;at here frend were not plesyd wyth &thorn;at sche 
xuld haue, and there-fore he bad here be ryth wel a-vysyd how sche ded, 
and seyd &thorn;at he woold wndyrstond &thorn;e worddys &thorn;at 
sche had seyd to hym, wheythere yt mad matramony ore not. And sche 
rehersyd wat sche had seyd, and seyd yf thoo worddys mad yt not 
suhere, sche seyd boldly &thorn;at sche wold make yt suerhere ore 
&thorn;at sche went thens; fore sche sayd sche thowthe in here 
conschens sche was bownd, wat so euere &thorn;e worddys wern. Thes 
leud worddys gereue me and here grandam as myche as alle &thorn;e 
remnawnte. And &thorn;an &thorn;e Bysschop and the schawnselere 
bothe seyd &thorn;at there was neythere I nere no frend of hers wold 
reseyuere. And &thorn;an Calle was exameynd aparte be hym-sylfe, 
&thorn;at here  
worddys and hys acordyd, and the tyme and where yt xuld a be don. 
And &thorn;an &thorn;e Bysschop sayd &thorn;at he supposyd 
&thorn;at there xuld be fownd othere thynggys ageyns hym &thorn;at 
mythe cause &thorn;e lettyng there-of, and there-fore he say[d] he wold 
not be to has[[ty]] to geue sentens there-vp-on, and sayd &thorn;at he 
wold geue ouere day tyl &thorn;e Wodynsday ore Thursday aftyre 
Mykylmes, and so yt tys delayyd. They woold an had here wyl 
parformyd in haste, but &thorn;e Bysschop seyd he woold non 
othere-wyse &thorn;an he had sayd. I was wyth my moder at here plase 
wan sche was exameynd, and wan I hard sey wat here demeny[n]g was I 
schargyd my seruantys &thorn;at sche xuld not be reseyued in myn 
hows. I had &yogh;euen here warny[n]g, sche mythe a be ware afore yf 
sche had a be grasyows. And I sent to on ore ij more &thorn;at they 
xuld not reseyue here yf sche cam. Sche was browthe a-geyn to my place 
fore to a be reseyued, and Ser Jamys tolde them &thorn;at browthe here 
&thorn;at I had schargyd hem alle, and sche xuld not be reseyued; and 
soo my lord of Norwych hath set here at Rogere Bestys to be there tyle 
&thorn;e day before say[d], God knowyth fule euel ageyn hys wyle and 
hys wyvys, yf they durst do othere-wyse. I am sory &thorn;at they arn 
a-cumyrd wyth here, but &yogh;et I am better payed &thorn;at sche is 
there fore &thorn;e whyle &thorn;an sche had ben in othere place, 
be-cause of &thorn;e sadnes and god dysposysion of hym-sylfe and hys 
wyfe, fore sche xal not be souerd there to pleye &thorn;e brethele. I 
pray &yogh;ow and requere &yogh;ow &thorn;at &yogh;e take yt not 
pensyly, fore I wot wele yt gothe ryth nere &yogh;owr hart, and so doth 
yt to myn and to othere; but remembyre &yogh;ow, and so do I, 
&thorn;at we haue lost of here but a brethele, and setyt &thorn;e les to 
hart; fore and sche had be good, wat so euere sche had be yt xuld not a 
ben os jt tys, fore and he were ded at thys owyre sche xuld neuere be at 
myn hart as sche was. As fore &thorn;e devors &thorn;at &yogh;e wrete 
to me of, I suppose wat &yogh;e ment, but I scharge &yogh;ow vpon 
my blyssyng &thorn;at &yogh;e do not, nere cause non othere to do, 
&thorn;at xuld offend God and &yogh;owr conschens; fore and &yogh;e 
do, ore cause fore to be do, God wul take vengawns there-vpon and 
&yogh;e xuld put &yogh;owr-sylfe and othere in gret jopart&eacute;. 
Fore wottyt wele, sche xal ful sore repent here leudnes here-aftyre, and I 
pray God sche mute soo. I pray &yogh;ow, fore myn hard ys hese, be 
&yogh;e of a good cownfort in alle thynggys. I trust God xal helpe ryth 
wele, and I pray God so do in alle owr maters. I wuld &yogh;e toke hed 
yf there were any labore mad in &thorn;e kort of Cawntyrbery fore the 
leud matere fore sayd.  
But yf the Duke be purveyd fore, he and hys wyse kow[n]sel xalle lese 
thys cuntr&eacute;. Yt tys told me &thorn;at he sethe &thorn;at he wul 
not spare to do &thorn;at he is purposyd fore no duke in Ynglond. God 
helpe at nede. 
