William Ainsworth - The Tower of London - A Historical Romance, Illustrated

“And the council?”

“Are plotting against us, and providing for their own safety.”

“Jane,” said Lord Guilford Dudley, “I will not attempt to excuse my conduct. But if it is possible to repair the injury I have done you, I will do so. Everything now depends on resolution. The council are more to be feared than Mary and her forces. So long as you are mistress of the Tower, you are mistress of London, and Queen of England – even though the day should go against the Duke, my father. Give me a warrant under your hand for the arrest of the council, and the ambassadors Renard and De Noailles, and I will see it instantly executed.”

“My lord!” she exclaimed.

“Trust me, my queen, it is the only means to save us,” replied Dudley. “This bold step will confound them and compel them to declare their purposes. If they are your enemies, as I nothing doubt, you will have them in your power.”

“I understand,” replied Jane. “You shall have the warrant. It will bring matters to an issue.”

At this moment, the door of the chamber was thrown open, and an usher announced “Monsieur Simon Renard.”

“You are right welcome, M. Renard,” said Lord Guilford, bowing haughtily. “I was about to go in search of you.”

“Indeed,” rejoined the ambassador, coldly returning the salutation. “I am glad to spare your lordship so much trouble, – and I am still more rejoiced to find you have recovered your temper, and returned to your royal consort.”

“Insolent!” exclaimed Lord Guilford. “Guards!” he cried, motioning to the attendants – “Assure yourselves of his person.”

“Ha!” exclaimed Renard, laying his hand upon his sword. “You have no authority for this.”

“I have the Queens warrant,” rejoined Dudley, sternly.

“The person of an ambassador is sacred,” observed Renard.

“The emperor, Charles the Fifth, will resent this outrage as an insult to himself.”

“I will take the consequences upon myself,” replied Lord Guilford, carelessly.

“Your highness will not suffer this wrong to be done?” said Renard, addressing Jane.

“Monsieur Renard,” replied the queen, “I have reason to believe you have played me false. If I find you have deceived me, though you were brother to the emperor, you shall lose your head.”

“You will have cause to repent this step,” rejoined Renard, furiously. “The council will command my instant release.”

“The order must be speedy then,” replied Dudley, “for I shall place them all in arrest. And here, as luck will have it, are your friends the Earls of Arundel and Pembroke. They will attend you to the White Tower.”

So saying, he motioned to the guards to take them into custody.

“What means this?” cried Pembroke in astonishment.

“It means that Lord Guilford Dudley, who has been slumbering for some time in Sion House, has awakened at last, and fancies his royal consort’s crown is in danger,” rejoined Renard with a bitter sneer.

“This is some jest surely, my lord,” observed Pembroke. “The council arrested at a moment of peril like this! Will you provoke us to manifest our power?”

“I will provoke you to manifest your treacherous designs towards her majesty,” replied Dudley. “Away with them to the White Tower! Shrewsbury, Cecil, Huntingdon, Darcy, and the others shall soon join you there.”

“One word before we go, gracious madam’?” said Pembroke, addressing the queen.

“Not one, my lord,” replied Jane. “Lord Guilford Dudley has my full authority for what he does. I shall hold early council to-morrow – which you shall be at liberty to attend, and you will then have ample opportunity to explain and defend yourself.”

Upon this, the confederate nobles were removed.

“It is time to put an end to this farce,” remarked Renard, as they were conducted along the gallery towards the White Tower.

“It is,” answered Pembroke, “and my first address in the council to-morrow shall be to proclaim Queen Mary.”

“The hair-brained Dudley imagines he can confine us in the White Tower,” observed Renard, laughing. “There is not a chamber in it without a secret passage. And thanks to the jailor, Nightgall, I am familiar with them all. We will not be idle to-night.”

Having seen the rest of the council conveyed to the White Tower, Lord Guilford Dudley returned to the palace. While discoursing on other matters with the queen, he casually remarked that he was surprised he did not perceive his esquire, Cuthbert Cholmondeley, in her highness’s train, and was answered that he had not been seen since his departure for Sion House. Greatly surprised by the intelligence, Lord Guilford directed an attendant to make inquiries about him. After some time, the man returned, stating that he could obtain no information respecting him.

“This is very extraordinary,” said Lord Guilford. “Poor Cholmondeley! What can have happened to him? As soon as this danger is past, I will make personal search for him.”

“I thought he had left the Tower with you, my dear lord,” observed Jane.

“Would he had!” answered her husband. “I cannot help suspecting he has incurred the enmity of the council, and has been secretly removed. I will interrogate them on the subject tomorrow.”

While they were thus conversing, an usher appeared, and informed the queen that a young damsel supplicated an audience having somewhat to disclose of importance.

“You had better admit her, my queen,” said Dudley. “She may have accidentally learned some plot which it is important for us to know.”

Jane having signified her assent, the usher withdrew, and presently afterwards introduced Cicely. The young damsel, who appeared to have suffered much, greatly interested the queen by her extreme beauty and modesty. She narrated her story with infinite simplicity, and though she blushed deeply when she came to speak of the love professed for her by Cholmondeley, she attempted no concealment.

Both Jane and Lord Guilford Dudley were astonished beyond measure, when they learned that the young esquire had been incarcerated by Nightgall; and the latter was about to reproach Cicely for not having revealed the circumstance before, when she accounted for her silence by stating that she had been locked within her chamber, ever since the night in question, by her mother. Her story ended, Dudley declared his intention of seeking out the jailor without delay. “I will first compel him to liberate his prisoner,” he said, “and will then inflict upon him a punishment proportionate to his offence.”

“Alas!” exclaimed Cicely, bursting into tears, “I fear your lordship’s assistance will come too late. Nightgall has visited me daily, and he asserts that Master Cholmondeley has quitted the Tower by some secret passage under the moat. I fear he has destroyed him.”

“If it be so, he shall die the death he merits,” replied Dudley. “You say that the gigantic warders, whose lodging is in the By-ward Tower, are acquainted with the dungeon. I will proceed thither at once, be of good cheer, fair damsel. If your lover is alive he shall wed you on the morrow, and I will put it out of Nightgall’s power to molest you further. Remain with the queen till I return.”

“Ay, do so, child,” said Jane, “I shall be glad to have you with me. And, if you desire it, you shall remain constantly near my person.”

“It is more happiness than I deserve, gracious madam,” replied Cicely, dropping upon her knee. “And though your majesty has many attendants more highly born, you will find none more faithful.”

“I fully believe it,” replied Jane, with a sigh. “Rise, damsel. Henceforth you are one of my attendants.”