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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Kenilworth by Walter Scott: --the great bell rings."
Master Robert Laneham stared a moment at the agitation which he
had excited, and then said to himself, as he stooped to pick up
his staff of office, "The noble Earl runs wild humours to-day.
But they who give crowns expect us witty fellows to wink at their
unsettled starts; and, by my faith, if they paid not for mercy,
we would finger them tightly!" [See Note 6. Robert Laneham.]
Leicester moved hastily on, neglecting the courtesies he had
hitherto dispensed so liberally, and hurrying through the courtly
crowd, until he paused in a small withdrawing-room, into which he
plunged to draw a moment's breath unobserved, and in seclusion.
 Kenilworth |