ichard is even supposed to have thought of
marrying his neice. The deaths of his nephews are dated in July or
August 1483. His own son did not die till April 1484, nor his queen
till March 1485. He certainly therefore did not mean to strengthen
his title by marrying his neice to the disinherison of his own son;
and having on the loss of that son, declared his nephew the earl of
Lincoln his successor, it is plain that he still trusted to the
illegitimacy of his brother's children: and in no case possibly to
be put, can it be thought that he wished to give strength to the
claim of the princess Elizabeth.

Let us now examine the accusation of his intending to marry that
neice: one of the consequences of which intention is a vague
suspicion of poisoning his wife. Buck says that the queen was in a
languishing condition, and that the physicians declared she could
not hold out till April; and he affirms having seen in the earl of
Arundel's library a letter written in passionate strains of love for
her uncle by Elizabeth to the duke of Norfolk, in which she
expressed doubts that the month of April would never arrive. What is
there in this account that looks like poison; Does it not prove that
Richard would not hasten the death of his queen? The tales of
poisoning for a time certain are now exploded; nor is it in nature
to believe that the princess could be impatient to marry him, if she
knew or thought he had murdered her brothers. Historians tell us
that the queen took much to heart the death of her son, and never
got over it. Had Richard been eager to ned his niece, and had his
character been as impetuously wicked as it is represented, he would
not have let the forward princess wait for the slow decay of her
rival: nor did he think of it till nine months after the death of
his son; which shows it was only to prevent Richmond's marrying her.
His declaring his nephew his successor, implies at the same time no
thought of getting rid of the queen, though he did not expect more
issue from her: and little as Buck's authority is regarded, a
contemporary writer confirms the probability of this story. The
Chronicle of Croyland says, that at the Christmas festival,(34) men
were scandalized at seeing the queen and the lady Elizabeth dressed
in robes similar and equally royal. I should suppose that Richard
learning the projected marriage of Elizabeth and the earl of
Richmond, amused the young princess with the hopes of making her his
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