60 Amye Robsart. 
because doth were utterly unknown to Amye Robsart. We must | 
go back, if you please, to the beginning of her. married life, 1550, 
which (as already said) lasted for ten years. 
All the older narratives have begun with telling us that their 
married life was an unhappy one: and one of our historians says 
that they lived apart and she in a lonely house. That is just the 
way to prepare the reader’s mind for a violent conclusion : but where 
is the evidence that their married life was from the first, or indeed 
ever, an unhappy one? ‘There was absolutely none : for until a very 
little while ago, nothing whatever was known about their married 
life. The little we do know will, as I hope to prove, exhibit them 
as living on the best footing. And as to their living apart, and she 
in a lonely house, that also shall be explained. It only applies to 
the last year or two, and the house was anything but lonely. Where 
they first lived is not known. Perhaps in Norfolk, where their 
property lay: possibly in London, because this was in Edward the 
Sixth’s time, and Lord Robert was one of the Gentlemen in ordinary 
in the Household. After Edward the Sixth’s death, July, 1553, 
Dudley certainly was in London, but against his will and under un- 
pleasant circumstances: for he had joined (as mentioned above) in 
the attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne: for which Queen 
Mary sent him to the Tower. He was convicted of high treason ; 
all his estates, wife’s and all, were forfeited: and he had a very 
narrow escape from sharing his father’s fate on Tower Hill. The 
Princess Elizabeth (afterwards Queen) was at the same time lodged 
in the Tower by her sister, Queen Mary, for State reasons. Robert 
Dudley remained in custody half-a-year, till January, 1554. Several 
other noblemen of his party were also prisoners: but their wives 
were allowed to visit them from time to time. Among the ladies 
whose names are mentioned as so doing, is that of Amye, Lady 
Dudley: so that, so far, in the fourth year of marriage, there is no 
sign of estrangement. On receiving his pardon, he was released, 
and his estates, including his wife’s, were restored to him. This was 
through the influence of Philip of Spain, the husband of Queen 
Mary: in return for which Robert Dudley offered his services to 
Philip, who sent him off to the Continent to fight against the French. 
