y came to court, and the queen proposed the subject to him. The
father said that he had not been aware that his daughter had formed such
an attachment, but that he should certainly give his consent, without
any hesitation, to any arrangement of that kind which the queen desired
and advised. "That is all, then," said the queen; "I will do the rest."
So she called the young lady into her presence, and told her that her
father had given his free consent. The maiden's heart bounded with joy,
and she began to express her happiness and her gratitude to the queen,
promising to do every thing in her power to please her, when Elizabeth
interrupted her, saying, "Yes, you will act so as to please me, I have
no doubt, but you are not going to be a fool and get married. Your
father has given his consent to _me_, and not to you, and you may rely
upon it you will never get it out of my possession. You were pretty bold
to acknowledge your foolishness to me so readily."

Elizabeth was very irritable, and could never bear any contradiction. In
the case even of Leicester, who had such an unbounded influence over
her, if he presumed a little too much he would meet sometimes a very
severe rebuff, such as nobody but a courtier would endure; but
courtiers, haughty and arrogant as they are in their bearing toward
inferiors, are generally fawning sycophants toward those above them, and
they will submit to any thing imaginable from a _queen_.

It was the custom in Elizabeth's days, as it is now among the great in
European countries, to have a series or suite of rooms, one beyond the
other, the inner one being the presence chamber, and the others being
occupied by attendants and servants of various grades, to regulate and
control the admission of company. Some of these officers were styled
_gentlemen of the black rod_, that name being derived from a peculiar
badge of authority which they were accustomed to carry. It happened, one
day, that a certain gay captain, a follower of Leicester's, and a sort
of favorite of his, was stopped in the antechamber by one of the
gentlemen of the black rod, named Bowyer, the queen having ordered him
to be more careful and particular in respect to the admission of
company. The captain, who was proud of the favor which he enjoyed with
Leicester, resented this affront, and threatened the officer, and he was
engaged in an altercation with him on the subject when Leicester came
in. Leicester took his favorite's part,