From a modern point of view, the funeral of a 16th-century English nobleman was as much a luxury as his wedding. The luxury and scale of the funeral are directly proportional to the rank and social status of the nobles, and it is the most specific way to express the social status of the nobility. Therefore, funeral ceremonies are not only a mourning event, but also a parade with a conspicuous nature.

Preparations began on 13 June for the funeral of Baron Walton's eldest son, Sir Ernest, heir. According to the plan arranged by the Yorkian heraldic officer, the first thing Baron Walton had to do was to determine the number of people in the funeral procession. Since the size of the funeral procession in Tudor times was based on the title of the deceased, the higher the title, the greater the number of funeral participants.

From this point of view, the funeral procession of the deceased Ernest Walton will not be too large. In the end, Baron Walton, who had only the title of knight and his heir, determined that the funeral procession of the eldest son consisted of 315 people, including the poor in the eldest son's domain and his own domain, jomannon, family servants, priests, and guards.

The second thing to be determined was the list of expenses for the funeral of the eldest son, which included the black mourning garments and the mourners' mourning garments, the black cloth which adorned the altar, the black cloth used in Sir Ernest's own house and his father's house and the church, the hearse, the flag, the flagpole and the shield, the church fee, food and drink, the alms of the poor and other miscellaneous expenses, all £1,017 6 shillings and 1 pence.

Of course, in this list of expenses detailed by the Yorkian Heraldic Officer, about three-quarters of the cost was spent on the purchase of black cloth, and a total of 1,132 yards of black cloth were used for the funeral. Sir Ernest's tombstone was also made of marble with ornamentation and portraiture, which was valued at £40.

The last affair was a banquet held after the funeral. Following the advice of the Yorkian heraldic officer, Baron Walton decided to invite 1,000 people to the banquet. At the end of the feast, the remaining fresh meat, fish, poultry and wild and precious birds, cereals (bread), cheese, butter, eggs, fruits, ales, and wine (a large amount of red wine and a small amount of white wine) may be distributed to the poor in the realm of the firstborn and in his own realm. In addition, the poor who came to the funeral ceremony received a charity of 2 pence each.

In view of the fact that the funeral expenses of the eldest son cost his father nearly six months' annual honorarium, Baron Walton had no choice but to immediately convene a meeting of the family members to discuss the funeral expenses. At the meeting, Madame Euphemia Frederick, the second daughter of the baron, thought that the eldest brother's wife, Madame Carolyn Walton, should bear eighty percent of the expenses, since it was her husband's funeral.

Previously, Isabel, the only unmarried daughter in the family, had told Caroline the news that the Duke of Richmond had brought back. Therefore, Caroline did not object to the opinion made by her husband's sister. However, Isabel expressed a different opinion, "Father, although His Majesty does not intend to sell her brother's domain immediately, Caroline still has to hand over eighty or ninety percent of the income from the territory to the guardian of the territory, that is, the Duke of Richmond. ”

Baron Walton sat on his throne and listened silently to his daughter's story. After a while, he looked at the second daughter sitting in the second position on the left and said, "Yuphimia, your sister is right. If Caroline was asked to bear eighty percent of the funeral costs, she would not be able to hand over the revenue to her guardian. ”

Yufermia was noncommittal to her father's words, but turned her gaze to her sister beside her, "Isabel, I know your relationship with Your Highness. So, I guess you can say something nice in front of Your Highness, don't you? ”

Isabel took a sip of wine from her glass and glanced at her sister, "Of course, I can say something nice about Caroline." However, if His Majesty wants to inquire about the income from the custody of the territory, I don't think His Highness will lie to His Majesty. ”

"Really? We all know that His Highness is the illegitimate son of His Majesty the King, will His Majesty still pursue this matter? ”

"Did you know that His Highness is going to hand over all the income from the custody to His Majesty the King? If you don't pay or don't pay enough, your brother's realm will be sold to someone else at any time. When the time comes, how much territory income do you think Caroline will have to raise her father's new heir?! ”

The quarrel between the sisters made Mrs. Walton, who was present, very sad, and coughed lightly, "Enough, my daughters. Euphemia, you have to be grateful to your sister. If she hadn't saved your husband's life in time, your family would have suffered the same result. ”

For a moment, the hall of Baron Walton's manor was unusually quiet. At this time, Isabel, who was disturbed by her marriage, thought of an idea to get rid of her husband-to-be Sir William Ingleby, and turned to look at the baron and his wife sitting on the throne, "Father, mother, I think that my dowry can be transferred to pay for my brother's funeral first." ”

Isabel's £800 dowry, the Baron and his Lady had been preparing two years earlier. Not only that, but the two also took into account two other scenarios. If Isabel ends up marrying the Earl or the Earl's heirs and other heirs, the two would have to sell part of their territory to make up a dowry of £2,000. Even if they marry a baron or the baron's heir, they will have to sell part of their territory. Of course, the dowry for marrying a knight or a knight's son can still be paid.

Mrs. Walton shook her head again and again, glanced at her husband beside her, and then looked at Isabel, "My daughter, we will not embezzle your dowry. You know, your father and I wish you a happy and fulfilling marriage to Sir William. ”

Euphemia had heard something about Sir William from her sister, and was willing to make fun of her, "Mother, my sister will not be happy in her marriage to Sir William." While his brother went to Scotland to fight, Sir hid in his castle and enjoyed the life of a lord. ”

The call put the two sisters on the same page, and Isabel smirked and stretched out her left palm to her sister and raised her chin at her, "High-five!" ”

In front of her noble parents, Euphemia didn't dare to be too willful, and quietly pointed to her parents on the throne when she looked at Isabel. Baron Walton ignored the sisters' small movements, and only said with a blank face, "All right, daughters, now we are talking about the cost of your brother's funeral. ”

Seeing that her "conspiracy" had failed, Isabel had to come up with another solution, "Father, mother, you can sell the goods brought back from the south." ”

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