_Leicester and the reputed Poisoners of his Time_ (Vol. ii., p.
9.).--"The lady who had lost her hair and her nails," an account of whom
is requested by your correspondent H.C., was Lady Douglas, daughter of
William Lord Howard of Effingham, and widow of John Lord Sheffield.
Leicester was married to her after the death of his first wife Anne,
daughter and heir of Sir John Robsart, and had by her a son, the
celebrated Sir Robert Dudley, whose legitimacy, owing to his father's
disowning the marriage with Lady Sheffield, in order to wed Lady Essex,
was afterwards the subject of so much contention. On the publication of
this latter marriage, Lady Douglas, in order, it is said, to secure
herself from any future practices, had, from a dread of being made away
with by Leicester, united herself to Sir Edward Stafford, then
ambassador in France. Full particulars of this double marriage will be
found in Dugdale's _Antiquities of Warwickshire_.
The extract from D'Israeli's _Amenities of Literature_ relates to
charges against Leicester, which will be found at large in _Leicester's
Commonwealth_, written by Parsons the Jesuit,--a work, however, which
must be received with great caution, from the author's well-known enmity
to the Earl of Leicester, and his hatred to the Puritans, who were
protected by that nobleman's powerful influence.