* * * * *
_From Robert Surtees_, _Esq._, _to Jonathan Oldbuck_, _Esq._
June 11.
MY DEAR SIR,—Alas, your warning comes too late. An accursed example of
womankind, fit descendant of that unhappy Betty Barnes, cook to Mr.
Warburton, who destroyed his ancient manuscript plays, hath invaded my
sanctum, and the original black-letter text of the ballad has gone to
join Shakspeare’s “Stephen” and “Henry II.” She hath lit with it my
study fire, and it is fortunate indeed that I had made the copy of the
ballad for you. But the volume of Coquillart is alive to testify to the
authenticity of the poem; which, after all, is needless evidence, as not
even Ritson could suspect of either the skill or the malice of such a
forgery, Yours most faithfully,