CHAPTER XII.

Lady Purbeck in Paris--The English Ambassador--Serving a writ--Lady
Purbeck at a convent--Sir Kenelm Digby--His letter about
Lady Purbeck--Lady Purbeck returns to England 125

CHAPTER XIII.

Lord Purbeck takes Lady Purbeck back again as his wife--He
acknowledges Robert Wright as his own son--Death of Lady
Purbeck--Retrospect of her life and character--Her
descendants--Claims to the title of Viscount Purbeck 137




CHAPTER I.

"After this alliance,
Let tigers match with hinds, and wolves with sheep,
And every creature couple with its foe."
DRYDEN.


The political air of England was highly charged with electricity.
Queen Elizabeth, after quarrelling with her lover, the Earl of Essex,
had boxed his ears severely and told him to "go to the devil;"
whereupon he had left the room in a rage, loudly exclaiming that he
would not have brooked such an insult from her father, and that much