Here he fell in love with, and married, a sister of Thomas Cavendish, who died without children in 1596. Soon afterwards he married Alice, daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh of Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, by whom he had four daughters. His one desire after coming into possession of Kenilworth was to clear his own and his mother’s reputation and honour, and for this purpose he instituted proceedings at law to prove his legitimacy. At first in the Ecclesiastical Court he had hopes of success, but the influence of the Essexs and Sydneys proved too strong; the case was transferred to the Star Chamber, which ordered that all “depositions should be sealed up and no copies taken,” and only admitted the evidence of Lady Essex. Irritated by such injustice Dudley left England, and with him went his beautiful young cousin Elisabeth, eldest daughter of Sir Robert Southwell. At Lyons they entered the Roman Catholic Church, obtained the Pope’s dispensation from the laws of consanguinity, and were married, Lady Alice Dudley having in vain offered to join him with their four girls and to become a Catholic. From Lyons Sir Robert and his new wife went to Florence and Dudley wrote to the Grand Duke asking for his protection and offering his services. In quaint French he set forth his noble birth and high lineage, claimed by virtue of descent to be Duke of Northumberland, Earl of Warwick, and Earl of Leicester, and declared himself second to none in the science of navigation and the art of ship-building; he also promised to make the Grand Duke absolute master in the seas of the Levant in spite of all Spanish, infidel and other galleys. [Illustration: (Drawing of navigation compass)]