THE PORTSMOUTH ROAD 



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Eighth was bilious, melancholy marked his courtiers 

 for her own. No ! there was not much magnificence 

 about Wolsey during the short time he stayed at Esher 

 Place. He had no steward about him, " which was 

 always a dean, or priest ; no treasurer — a knight ; no 

 controller — a squire — who always had within his house 

 their white staves ;" nor in his privy kitchen had he the 

 master cook, " who," according to Cavendish, " went daily 



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in satin, damask, or velvet, with a chain of gold about 

 his neck " — though a white cap and apron would surely 

 have been more in harmony with the surroundings. No, 

 Wolsey, when he retired to Esher Place, had none of 

 these things. He was closely shorn of all his magnifi- 

 cence, and was indeed in want of the common necessaries 

 of life. His dejection was not mitigated by this starved 

 condition of the larder, nor by the dampness of the 

 house, of which he wrote a sad account to Gardiner, 



M 



