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"Nay, I understand nought about it," said Blount; "but here are your

honourable lordship's brave kins in by scores to

wait upon you to court, where, methinks, we shall bear as brave a front

as Leicester, let hies," said Sussex, "that they suffer no

provocation short of actual violence to provoke theive Leicester the advantage over me by

any imprudence of theirs"

The Earl of Sussex ran so hastily through these directions, that it was

with difficulty Tressilian at length found opportunity to express his

surprise that he should have proceeded so far in the affair of Sir Hugh

Robsart as to lay his petition at once before the Queen "It was the

opinion of the young lady's friends," he said, "that Leicester's

sense of justice should be first appealed to, as the offence had been

committed by his officer, and so he had expressly told to Sussex"

"This could have been done without applying to ht not to have been a counsellor

when the object was a hu reference to Leicester; and I am

suprised that you, Tressilian, a man of honour, and my friend, would

assume such a mean course If you said so, I certainly understood you

not in a matter which sounded so unlike yourself"

"My lord," said Tressilian, "the course I would prefer, for my own sake,

is that you have adopted; but the friends of this most unhappy lady--"