"Yet grievous it is to me," said he in, a tone of tender reproach, "that having left all--yea, all that may be imagined--for you, you have left me for very little, even to the uttermost of all hard fortune.

For what have I, unhappy man, to do here either with cause or country but for you ?" He stated boldly that his services had not been ineffective, that the enemy had never been in worse plight than now, that he had lost at least five thousand men in divers overthrows, and that, on the other hand, the people and towns of the Seven Provinces had been safely preserved.

"Since my arrival," he said, "God hath blessed the action which you have taken in hand, and committed to the charge of me your poor unhappy servant.

I have good cause to say somewhat for myself, for that I think I have as few friends to speak for me as any man." Nevertheless--as he warmly protested--his only wish was to return; for the country in which he had lost her favour, which was more precious than life, had become odious to him.
The most lowly office in her presence was more to be coveted than the possession of unlimited power away from her.

It was by these tender and soft insinuations, as the Earl knew full well, that he was sure to obtain what he really coveted--her sanction for retaining the absolute government in the Provinces.