Page:Life and transactions of Mrs. Jane Shore, concubine to K. Edward IV.pdf/3

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This lovely woman, was the delight of her father, who clothed her, richly, adorning her with jewels; and his trade lying among the court-ladies, he often carried her with him to ſhew her the paſtimes which were made frequently there, to divert the queen, &c. which gave her an early longing after a greater gentility than ſhe had ever yet attained to, or her city breeding was fit to produce.

When ſhe grew to the age of fifteen her competent ſtock of beauty and good carriage, cauſed many to fall in love with her, and ſome great Lords fixed their eyes upon her, to get her for a miſtreſs, which her father perceiving, ſent her to his ſiſter at Northampton, where ſhe remained about a year, till he ſuppoſed the inquiry after her was over, and that ſhe might return without any hazard of being any further tempted to lewdneſs. Yet ſhe was no ſooner returned, than a plot was laid one night to have her carried away by Lord Haſtings, who, after the death