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The aforesaid childish marriages were settled and carried through forthwith. Shortly afterwards the wedding of their elders took place with due magnificence, while the bride, besides her Cavendish and Barlow properties, brought to her fourth husband the Gloucestershire estate of St. Loe.

If the Cavendish epoch had been one of security and happiness, the Shrewsbury epoch promised to be one of sheer brilliance and delight. It is true there were one or two dissentient voices. Said a certain John Hall, under subsequent examination upon his arrest for Scottish conspiracy, that, though he served as a gentleman of the Earl’s household for some years, he so misliked my Lord’s marriage with this wife, as divers others of his friends did, that he resigned his post. Yet the Queen and her circle approved. That was the main thing. The following letter from a kinsman at Court emphasises the fact:—^[9]

“May it please you to understand that Mr. Wingfield hath delivered your venison to the Queen’s Majesty with my lord’s most humble commission, and your Ladyship with humble thanks from both your honours for her great goodness.