THE PERFECT WIFE. the lonely house where they resided ; and Lucy, with her two lii tle boys and infant girl-who had been born a few days after George's arrest-accord- ingly removed from Owthorpe, about Christmas, . 1642, before sunrise, under the guard of a troop of horse ; for the state of the country was hazardous in the extreme. Although but twenty-seven years old, Lucy's husband was soon called on to take a post, of honour, certainly, but one fraught with danger, responsibility, and heavy expense. In compliance with the wish of the towns-people, in June, 1643, he accepted the Governorship of Nottingham Castle ; thus entering on a situation replete with perils on every side. To preserve Nottingham from the enemy was a matter of no small difficulty, for being on the high road to the north, whichever party first possessed it would be enabled to cut off the other from all inter- course between the north and south. The town itself was racked by factions, royalist and republican, and distracted by petty squabbles, treacheries, and jealousies. The Castle was, by nature, fitted for an impregnable fortress, being built on a rocky eminence, and was capable of strong fortification ; but it was then in so ruinous a condition that it scarcely afforded accommodation for men or stores, while it was as ill-provisioned as fortified. The new Governor, nothing disheartened, at once exerted himself to place the fortress in a defensible position, which he did at great expense to himself. 33
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=