' Bartlett, Cumnor Place, p. 73, London 1850.
2. AMY'S DEATH AND WHAT FOLLOWED
So far the case against Dudley, or servants of Dudley, has looked
very black. There are the scandals, too dark for ambassadors to
write, but mouthed aloud among the common people, about Dudley and
the Queen. There is de Quadra's talk of a purpose to poison Amy, in
November-January, 1559-1560. There is the explicit statement of
Cecil, as to the intended poisoning (probably derived from Dr.
Bayly), and as to Dudley's 'possession of the Queen's person,' the
result of his own observation. There is the coincidence of Amy's
violent death with Cecil's words to de Quadra (September 8 or 9,
1560).
But here the case takes a new turn. Documents appear, letters from
and to Dudley at the time of the event, which are totally
inconsistent with guilt on his part. These documents (in the Pepys
MSS. at Cambridge) are COPIES of letters between Dudley and Thomas
Blount, a gentleman of good family, whom he addresses as 'Cousin.'
Blount, long after, in May 1567, was examined on the affair before
the Privy Council, and Mr. Froude very plausibly suggests that
Blount produced the copies in the course of the inquiry.
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