ave proof in another letter dated 19th September
1590, from Anthony Brown, Viscount Montague (Southampton's maternal
grandfather), to Lord Burghley. Regarding this engagement he writes,
that Southampton "is not averse from it," and repeats further, that his
daughter, Lady Southampton, is not aware of any alteration in her son's
mind. The tone of this latter epistle does not seem to evince any great
enthusiasm for the match upon the part of either Southampton or his
mother; its rather diffident spirit was not lost upon Burghley, who,
within a few days of its receipt, commanded the attendance of his young
ward at Court. Upon 14th October 1590--that is, less than a month after
Viscount Montague's letter to Burghley--we have a letter from Lady
Southampton announcing her son's departure for London, and commending
him to Burghley, but making no mention of the proposed marriage. _From
the fact that she thanks Burghley for the "long time" he "had intrusted"
her son with her, we may infer that his present departure for London
was occasioned by Burghley's order, and also that the "long time"_
indicated by Lady Southampton's letter, was the interval between
Southampton's leaving Cambridge in June 1589 and his present departure
for London in October 1590. We are also assured by this data that
Southampton had not travelled upon the Continent previous to his coming
to Court. Between the time of his coming to London in October 1590 and
August 1591, I find no dates in contemporary records referring to
Southampton; but it appears evident that these nine months were spent at
Court.

Some misgivings regarding the young Earl's desire for the match with his
granddaughter seem to have arisen in Burghley's mind in March 1592, _at
which time Southampton was with the English forces in France_. From this
we may judge that Southampton's departure for the wars was undertaken at
his own initiative and not at Burghley's suggestion. It appears likely
that a lack of marital ardour inspired his martial ardour at this time,
and that Burghley was conscious of his disinclination to the proposed
marriage. In a letter dated 6th March 1592 (new style) Roger Manners
writing to Burghley tells him he has been at North Hall with the
Countess of Warwick, whom he reports as "very well inclined to the match
between the Earl of Bedford and the Lady Vere." "She is desirous to
know," he adds, "if your Lordship approves of it." While this letter
shows that Burghley at