Page:The Queens of England.djvu/533

MARY BEATRICE OF MODENA, QUEEN OF JAMES THE SECOND. The parents of Mary Beatrice were Alphonso d'Este, Duke of Modena and Laura Martinozzi, a Roman lady. She was a seven months' child, their eldest offspring, bom October 5th, 1658. Her father reigned but four years in his duchy, dying in the prime of life, and leaving his two surviving children, Mary Beatrice and Francis the Second, under the guardian- ship and regency of the duchess. Her mother exercised great severity in their education, both as regards morals and religion, and the princess later in life used to recall passages in the stern discipline of her childhood with marked disapprobation. She was sent to finish her education in a convent of Carmelite nuns, and at a very early age conceived the idea of taking the veil. So innocent, but it must be said, so ignorant also, in the very groundwork of education was she, that when at the age of fif- teen overtures of marriage were made to her on the part of the Duke of York, afterwards James the Second, she neither knew who he was nor where England might be. She was then tall and considered very handsome, could read and write Latin and French, and had a genius and a passion for music. But her earnest desire to be a nun remained, after all the brilliancy of this offer had been explained to her. When she learnt that he was verging on forty years of age, she entreated that her young- est aunt might marry him instead. The negotiations were very troublesome, and she finally acceded only in obedience to the commands of her mother and amidst floods of tears. Nothing, indeed, could pacify her until it was settled that her mother should accompany her to England, which she did, and remained there with her six weeks. The Duke of York met her upon the sands at Dover, and the nuptials were solemnized at that place. The honors of the Duke of York had already, before the date of this marriage with a Roman Catholic princess, begun to lose their value in the sight of this Protestant nation. The feats of