184 THE WILD-FLOWERS OF SELBORNE 



haps, as local tradition has it, preserved in some 

 spirituous liquor, and brought in a small boat to 

 England, and landed at Southampton. Then the 

 remains were taken by road to Titchfield, about ten 

 miles distant, and received by the broken-hearted 

 Countess beneath the stately gate-house, where, not 

 twenty-five years before, the grinning corbel had 

 welcomed her as a bride. A few days later, on Inno- 

 cents' Day, December 28, the two coffins, covered, 

 it is believed, with crimson cloth, were laid in the 

 family vault beneath the splendid monument. 



The Countess survived her lord for many years, 

 and continued to reside at Titchfield, where, in 1637, 

 a granddaughter was born, and christened " Rachel." 

 The child was brought up probably under the care of 

 her grandmother at Place House, and played in the old 

 walled garden and about the monastic fish-ponds, and 

 on Sundays gazed in wonderment at the magnificent 

 monument of her ancestors in the parish church, and 

 learnt her lessons, it may be, at the knee of the " faire 

 Countess," whose face now showed the traces of 

 sorrow and of years. This little girl, the grand- 

 daughter of Romeo and Juliet, became famous in 

 after years as the noble and devoted wife of Lord 

 William Russell who was executed by Charles II. 

 It is interesting to notice that her celebrated Letters 

 contain several allusions to her early home. 



When Rachel was about ten years old an event 

 happened which must have engraved itself deeply 

 upon her memory. Towards evening one dull Nov- 

 ember afternoon, when the fog lay heavily along the 

 course of the river Meon, and the drive beneath the 

 avenue was thickly strewn with fallen leaves, two 

 horsemen were seen to cross the bridge, and to ride 



