DEMARCH

Ata tilt, William the Conqueror falls in love with the portrait on his opponent’s shield. The subject is the Danish princess Blanche, and he travels incognito to Denmark to woo her. In the flesh she is a disappointment, outshone by the captive princess Mariana. At a masque, William unwittingly picks a fight with his friend the Marquis of Litbeck, and spends a night in prison. He sends a love-letter to Mariana, which Blanche intercepts and tears up in Mariana’s face. Mariana has no interest in William anyway: she asks him to rescue her from Denmark, but substitutes Blanche when the plot is carried out. William returns to England to find his regents fighting one another, and the Danes threaten war if he does not return Blanche to her father. In the sub-plot, meanwhile, the Norman Conquest has forced many of the English gentry into hiding, among them Sir Thomas Goddard and his daughter, Em. He disguises himself as a miller, and she is wooed by three suitors: the local boy Manvile, whom her father favours, and the Normans Mountney and Valingford. The miller’s man Trotter also fancies his chances: he persuades Em to promise to do anything to ease his sickness before telling her that it is love- sickness. Manvile becomes jealous of the other suitors, and Em tries to put them off by pretending to be blind and deaf. This only succeeds in alienating Manvile, who lays plans to marry another woman, Elinor. Suspecting a stratagem, Valingford is harder to yet rid of: he learns of Manvile’s intentions and tells Em and her father, Em admits her deception and wants revenge on Manvile. The Danes invade England. William still believes it was Mariana who left Denmark with him, but she and Liibeck are with the Danish troops as prisoners, accused of abetting Blanche’s abduction. When William realizes the truth, Sueno offers him Blanche’s hand in marriage, but Mariana’s deception has made him a misogynist. Em and her suitors now arrive, and Em explains her stratagem. Relieved, Manvile renews his willingness to marry her, but she won't have him - and neither will Elinor. William decides to accept Blanche after all, and, once Goddard’s true identity is revealed, Em is bestowed on Valingford.