" The soft hair is of the same golden-brown as his, the
colour her eldest son inherited, and which Shakespeare is said to have
described in his figure of the marjoram-buds. In the picture by
Gheeraedts at the National Portrait Gallery, painted in 1614, she has
lost little of her youthful beauty, but has added the special graces of
maturity. The hair is still a rich brown. A thoughtful soul sits
brooding behind those attentive eyes--a soul that seems to wish to ask
the universal unanswerable questions, one that has grappled with doubt
and struggled with environing circumstance, but has not yet consented to
be baffled. The face is modern and complex. This accomplished lady
received at Wilton the most distinguished people of her time. Her guests
included Spenser, Raleigh, probably Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Inigo
Jones, Sir John Harrington, Dr. Donne, and many more; and the Countess's
_Pastoral Dialogue in Praise of Astraea_ was probably written in honour
of a visit from the Queen herself. It would perhaps be strange if the
young poet did not surround the personality of this fascinating
patroness with a romantic halo and feel that his poetic fame was linked
with hers. The Delia of the sonnets has all the excellencies that a
sonnet-honoured lady should have, including locks of gold. But the fact
that the poet has slyly changed the word "amber" to "snary" in sonnet
xiv., and "golden" to "sable" in sonnet xxxviii.
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