Since Sir Augustine was appointed magistrate by King Henry VIII in August 1536, the king has been in demand of his allegiance. During the next four years in office, the knight's vision was gradually extended beyond his predecessor's allegiance, the Duke of Richmond, to all the nobles in the north.

Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, was only an illegitimate son of the king, and he had no family or power behind him, let alone any influence in the court. The most satisfying result was that after the Duchess Mary gave birth to a male heir for the Duke, the Duke automatically became the Duke of Richmond I, starting the House of Richmond.

If the Duchess does not give birth to a male heir or the child is aborted for other reasons, then the Duke's title and domain will be recovered by the royal family after his death, and there will be no Richmond family in this world. So, Sir devised a gamble for the family's future fate. He bet on the other nobles of the North and the Norfolk family, and did not have much hope for the lonely Duke of Richmond.

Since her daughter, Isabel, is optimistic about the Duke of Richmond and the possible Richmond family, she might as well give it a try. Hopefully, you will get unexpected results. Sir Augustine looked at his daughter's smile and did not arbitrarily reject her idea, "Well, what you say is also a way. Why don't you wait for the Duchess to give birth to an heir for Her Royal Highness before deciding? ”

Isabel smiled and didn't say anything more, just nodded. At this time, Sir recalled the purpose of bringing his daughter here today, "Son, the thieves you sent to escort back this morning need to ask your opinion again on the charges against whom they were convicted during the examination. ”

Sizz's last words were clearly from a business-like standpoint. Isabel turned and walked back to her seat and sat down, crossed her leg and rested her right arm on the armrest, "Your Excellency, please speak." ”

"The evidence of this theft is conclusive, both human and physical. However, two of the young thieves only pleaded guilty to theft and not to homicide. They expressed dissatisfaction with the denial of bail, believing that they had only committed the misdemeanor of theft. ”

"Your Excellency, I think this case should be divided into two cases. The first case was theft in the context of misdemeanors, and the common law provided that all participants in a misdemeanor case were considered principal offenders. The second case is homicide within a felony, and those involved in the same felony are further divided into four categories. Sir, you don't need me to explain these four types to you, do you? ”

The English law of the 16th century, the common law, is still in the form of precedents that was formed around the 12th century and applied to the whole country. Common law is customary law and case law of universal application applied throughout the country by the British royal courts, and is the result of the establishment of a centralized system and the strengthening of royal power.

In the common law, it only applies to serious crimes, and persons who jointly participate in the commission of the same crime are divided into four types: first-degree principal offender, second-degree principal offender, ex-ante accessory and post-facto accessory. In the second case Isabel refers to, the homicide, the two young thieves were the ones who were present at the time of the commission of the crime to help or support the actual perpetrator. Under the common law, the two young thieves have been convicted of a second-degree principal offence and will be subject to the same penalties as the actual perpetrators of the offence.

Sir nodded, "Judging from the murder, the two young thieves are indeed second-degree principal offenders. However, judging from the conditions of bail, the theft committed by the two young men is only one of the misdemeanors and can be released on bail. ”

In the context of a felony, it does not meet the conditions for bail, and in the context of a misdemeanor, it is eligible for bail. This is still the case. Isabel pondered in silence, then looked at her father, "Your Excellency, you have the right to decide whether these two young thieves can be released on bail. However, I believe that these two people are criminal suspects who have committed multiple crimes and cannot be released on bail. ”

Isabel made her own judgment based only on what she learned later about the federal law, the current laws of the Kingdom of England, and the crimes committed by the suspect at the scene of the crime. As everyone knows, 14 years later, in 1554, the new law of the peace stipulated that the magistrate could not bail anyone who could not be bailed, mainly referring to those accused of treason, homicide, robbery, arson, counterfeiting, carving the king's seal, escaping, ex-convicts, and those who had committed various crimes.

Sir Augustine, the magistrate whose father served only the king, finally agreed with his daughter Isabel. Although the daughter served the lord Duke of Richmond, her daughter's opinion was correct.

When Isabel came out of the courtroom, the Duchess Mary and the two maids were already doing some embroidery work in the room, while they were playing cards. With the cards in her hand, Mary turned her head to look at the dark sky outside the window, "Amy, what time is it?" Why hasn't it been sunrise yet? ”

Amy quickly stood up and walked over to the cupboard on the side of the room. He leaned his face to the French clockwork that the Duke of Norfolk III had given to his daughter and looked at the time, "Madam, it's just past eleven o'clock." ”

Amy's memory is still good. Mary had previously taught her how to recognize the 12 Roman numerals on a clockwork, and until this time she was able to recognize the Roman numeral "12" at a glance, the first Roman numeral "11" on her left hand.

Mary didn't look at her, just looked at the sky outside the window: "Kelly, Your Highness should arrive at Durham Castle at this time, right?" ”

Kelly, the maid sitting diagonally opposite, hurriedly agreed: "Madam, Miss Isabel once said that the ride time from Her Highness's castle to Dalem Castle is more than 6 hours. If you just go, it should be more than 3 hours. So, His Highness must be inside Durham Castle now. ”

Mary turned her head to look at Amy, who was sitting back across from her, "You say, what does this Northern Council do?" ”

The two maids shook their heads softly, and then Amy asked, "Madam, didn't Your Highness tell you on the way to the north with you?" ”

"Well, His Highness didn't have much time to talk to me along the way, and he seems to be shyer than I am." As soon as Mary finished speaking, the two maids giggled.

Mary herself was amused, "Don't laugh, be careful that people hear us thinking that we are talking about His Highness behind our backs." ”

At this moment, there was a gentle knock on the door of the room three times. Kelly, who was closest to the door, ran to open the door, and when he opened the door, he saw a young living room manservant, "What's the matter?" ”