To the Quenes most
excellent Majestie/
29 January
1602
The Cowntess
of Shrewsbury to ye
Queen
Maye it please your most excellent Majestie I vnderstand by Sir Henry Brounkers
letters, some part of your Highnes pleasure touching this vnadvised yong woman
here: and doe most humbly desire that I maye knowe your Majesties further pleasure,
I can not yeilde to your Majestie such humble and dutifull thankes as I am most.
bounde to doe for your Majesties most gratious favor and goodnes to me./ And
Princely acceptaunce of my faythfull poore service./ I will not respect my
trouble or charge to doe your Majestie any service that shall lye in me during
lyfe./ but I doubt yt is not in my power nowe to doe that service to your Majestie
in this matter, as I desire./ for the bad perswasions of some, have so estraunged
hir minde and naturall affection from me, that she holdes me the greatest
enemie she hath, and hath given hir self over to be ruled and advised by others
so that the bonde of nature being broken, I can not have any assuraunce of
hir good cariage./ I cannot but doubt there is an other match in working
but whoe the partie shoulde be I can not coniecture./ some vaine wordes, she
hath spoken tending to such a matter, which I thought at the first were to ma[ke]
me more negligent in loking to that which was before discovered./ she is borne
in hande as I gather, that she shall have your Majesties good lyking and
allowaunce of any thing she doth, and have libertie to have resorte to hir,
and hir self to goe or ride at hir owne pleasure./ ffor my owne part, I shoulde
have little care howe meanly soever she were bestowed, so as it were not
offensive to your Highnes./ So farr as my credit doth extende with hir, I advis[ed]
hir to attempt nothing without your Majesties pleasure first knowne./ she sayth she
will doe all dutie to your Majestie but desireth me to forbeare to examyn hir./
hir vayne speech putts further doubtes into me of hir follie./ Your Majestie in y[our]
wisdome vppon this smale light, will looke further into this matter, then [I]
can imagin./ The greatest light I gathered, was by those scroles I formerly ...
vp to Sir Henry Brounker./ they growe nowe so warie that I doubt, I ...
hardly meet with any more./ sometimes she will saye that she can be taken ...
of my handes yf she will, which I trust for the shorte time your Majesties pleas[ure]
shalbe for hir staye here, I shall suffyciently loke to, but I can not doe y...
give hir libertie to walke and ride abroad and to have resorte to hir./
I humbly crave pardon of your Highnes for my presuming to trouble your
Majestie with my rude scribling./ And so with my daylie and earnest praye[rs]
to the almightie to graunt your Majestie long and happy Raigne which is an[d]
ever shalbe my greatest Comforth, I most humbly Cease./ ffrom hardwick
this xxixth of Ianuary .1602./
your Majesties
most bounden
faythfull seruant
and subiect
EShrouesbury
