Combing the Books

[Lucius Malfoy]

Upon the suggestion of the Duke of Gloucester, George Neville ventures for the royal library, hoping to seek out information involving the Mercer relation to that of Lord Tiptof, the late Earl of Worcester. It was true that his mother didn't speak much of her cousins, or at least George didn't recall such conversations being stated openly. If any place had detail records on the Tiptof lineage, it had to be here. Perhaps there was even documents on how Mercer gained the Earldom from the deceased John Tiptof. Upon arrival, he seeks out the librarian and makes his inquiry.

My good sir, I was wondering if you had a genealogy tree involving the Tiptof and related branches of that family. Perhaps even a copy of the late Earl of Worcester's will.

[Gandalfus]

Wherever Neville wandered into, it was the wrong place. However, he was swiftly directed to such a chamber within the palace where such documents were copied and recorded: the clerks there were all too happy to assist the Lord Neville in finding a copy of the late lord Tiptof's will, which, dictated a year before his death, stated that "all myne property and worldly wealth should descend upone mine nyphew, William Mercer..." It was unclear how exactly they were related in terms of Mercer's seniority, the only clarity offered being that Mercer's mother must have been one of the late Earl's sisters.

[Lucius Malfoy]

George Neville examined the date of this will, something felt a bit off. The Earl of Worcester had been outside of England since either 1458 and 1459 and was gone for up to three years. He remembered Tiptof had been at sea when he died, in 1461, having been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and served as an ambassador of England at the Vatican. Furthermore, he had studied in Padua for a couple years. How could this will have been made a year before his death if the Lord Tiptof had not been in England at the time this document was written?

Sir Neville turns to the clerk who handed him the document.

Is it possible for someone, say a wife or a relative, could have made this document instead of my Lord Tiptof?

He ponders for a moment.

Is there anyone alive who may recall when this document was brought to light perhaps? Certainly someone from my Lord Tiptof's household brought this to the court and handed it to someone here.

[Gandalfus]

The clerks clearly didn't know the answer, though they tried their best to find whatever information Montacute's heir required, such as earlier versions of Tiptof's will. It seemed that Mercer was mentioned in some capacity up to ten years before the Earl passed (when he caught a particularly bad fever, one of the older men explained), as well as the will composed before Worcester's trip to Italy. It seemed likely that the most recent one was but a revision - there did not seem to be anything irregular about the documents, as far as they were concerned.

[Lucius Malfoy]

George had very little to argue with, but still had one argument that could prove to be powerful enough. For now, he simply asked the clerks if he could take the documents with him, for review, due to an upcoming case.

[Gandalfus]

So long as they were returned, George was permitted to leave with the documents.