"
"Then they may do it without my aid," I said. "Come, Sir George,
had you wed my Lady Temperance in such fashion, and found this
hornets' nest about your ears, what would you have done?"
He gave his short, honest laugh. "It's beside the question, Ralph
Percy, but I dare say you can guess what I would have done."
"I'll fight for my own to the last ditch," I continued. "I married her
knowing her name, if not her quality. Had I known the latter, had I
known she was the King's ward, all the same I should have married
her, an she would have had me. She is my wife in the sight of God
and honest men. Esteeming her honor, which is mine, at stake,
Death may silence me, but men shall not bend me."
"Your best hope is in my Lord of Buckingham," he said. "They say
it is out of sight, out of mind, with the King, and, thanks to this
infatuation of my Lord Carnal's, Buckingham hath the field. That
he strains every nerve to oust completely this his first rival since he
himself distanced Somerset goes without saying. That to thwart
my lord in this passion would be honey to him is equally of course.
I do not need to tell you that, if the Company so orders, I shall
have no choice but to send you and the lady home to England.
When you are in London, make your suit to my Lord of
Buckingham, and I earnestly hope that you may find in him an ally
powerful enough to bring you and the lady, to whose grace, beauty,
and courage we all do homage, out of this coil.
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