Could someone help to understand the sentence, please?
Since N. had but recently agreed to recognise the administration of M. and had accepted the title "...", his position was, to say the least, somewhat anomalous.

I don't understand "had" in the first case.

Question

Could someone help to understand the sentence, please?
Since N. had but recently agreed to recognise the administration of M. and had accepted the title "...", his position was, to say the least, somewhat anomalous.

I don't understand "had" in the first case.

Answer

I'm definitely not an English teacher but it might help if you look at the sentence a little different to bring more clarity. For instance, if you read it: Since N. had accepted the title "...", his position was, to say the least, somewhat anomalous.

The other part : "but recently agreed to recognize the administration of M. and" is simply extra information about the subject "N".

I hope that helps a bit

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