"
What that particular villainy was, the ambassador had already
stated earlier in his letter. "I have learnt from a person who
usually gives me true information that Lor d Robert has sent to
have his wife poisoned."
What had actually happened was that Sir Richard Verney--a trusted
retainer of Lord Robert's--had reported to Dr. Bayley, of New
College, Oxford, that Lady Robert Dudley was "sad and ailing,"
and had asked him for a potion. But the doctor was learned in
more matters than physic. He had caught an echo of the tale of
Lord Robert's ambition; he had heard a whisper that whatever
suitors might come from overseas for Elizabeth, she would marry
none but "my lord"--as Lord Robert was now commonly styled. More,
he had aforetime heard rumours of the indispositions of Lady
Robert, yet had never found those rumours verified by the fact.
Some months ago, it had been reported that her ladyship was
suffering from cancer of the breast and likely soon to die of it.
Yet Dr. Bayley had reason to know that a healthier woman did not
live in Berkshire.
The good doctor was a capable deductive reasoner, and the
conclusion to which he came was that if they poisoned her under
cover of his potion--she standing in no need of physic--he might
afterwards be hanged as a cover for their crime.
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