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Authors: Victoria Holt
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march on London, their object being to put Mary Stuart on the throne. Of course they declared they had no wish to do this and merely wanted the Queen to name Mary of Scotland as her successor.
nd bring back Catholicism!I cried.
hat was their aim.
nd the Queen?
ick unto death. She sent for Dudley. She would have him with her at the end, she said.
is not the end yet,I put in quickly.
I looked at Walter and thought: If she dies, Robert will marry. And now I am married to Walter Devereux!
And I think it was in that moment that I began to dislike my husband.
he sent for him,went on Walter, nd told him that if she had not been Queen she would have been his wife. Then she called her ministers to her bedside and told them that it was her dying wish that Robert Dudley be made Protector of the Realm.
I caught my breath. he really does care for him,I said.
id you have any doubt of it?
he would not marry him.
ay, for he stands suspected of murdering his wife.
wonder I began; and I was picturing her carried to her grave, her brief reign over. And what would happen to the country? Some would try to put Mary of Scotland on the throne; and there would be others who wanted the Lady Catharine Grey. We could be plunged into civil war. But the question which plagued me most was: What will Robert do if she dies? And I was asking myself if I had hurried too quickly into marriage and whether it would have been better to have waited a while.
Then I gave birth to my second child daughter and I called her Dorothy.
The Queen recovered, which was what might have been expected of her. Moreover she had come through unscathed, which was rare. Robert sister Mary, who was married to Henry Sidney, had been with the Queen night and day attending to all her needs, caught the smallpox from her and was severely disfigured. I heard that Lady Mary asked leave to retire from Court, permission which could scarcely be denied in the circumstances was given, and she went to her family estate at Penshurst, from where she never really wanted to emerge again. Her reward for nursing Elizabeth, who was not likely to forget it. One of the Queen virtues was her loyalty to those who served her; besides, Mary Sidney was her beloved Robert sister.
Walter said that people again believed that a marriage between the Queen and Robert might now take place.
ut why should it be acceptable now when it was not a short time ago?I demanded.
t not such a short while,Walter reminded me, nd the people are so delighted to have her well again that they would be prepared to accept anything. They want her married. They want an heir to the throne. Her recent illness has shown how dangerous it could be if she died without heirs.
he won die until she wants to,I said grimly.
hat,retorted Walter coolly, s in the hands of God.
So the Court was soon as it was before her illness. Robert was back in favor, always at her side, always hopeful, I had no doubt; and perhaps more so than ever now that it was being hinted that people would accept a marriage between them.
The Queen was in high spiritsappy to be well again. She pardoned the Pole brothers, a gesture which was typical of her. She wanted to show her people how merciful she was and that she bore no grudges to any. The Poles were exiled, thoughnd the Court was gay again.
But there was no announcement of her betrothal to Robert.
It was galling to receive the news through Walter and those who came to Chartley to visit us, because they never told me all I wanted to know. As soon as I had recovered from Dorothy birth, I promised myself, I would go to Court again. The Queen would welcome me and I rehearsed how I would kneel before her with tears of joy in my eyes at her recovery. I knew how to produce those tears with the juice of certain plants. Then I would cajole her into giving me her version of events and I would tell her how a quiet life in the country was no worthy substitute for her royal apartments. She was always a little
nd bring back Catholicism!I cried.
hat was their aim.
nd the Queen?
ick unto death. She sent for Dudley. She would have him with her at the end, she said.
is not the end yet,I put in quickly.
I looked at Walter and thought: If she dies, Robert will marry. And now I am married to Walter Devereux!
And I think it was in that moment that I began to dislike my husband.
he sent for him,went on Walter, nd told him that if she had not been Queen she would have been his wife. Then she called her ministers to her bedside and told them that it was her dying wish that Robert Dudley be made Protector of the Realm.
I caught my breath. he really does care for him,I said.
id you have any doubt of it?
he would not marry him.
ay, for he stands suspected of murdering his wife.
wonder I began; and I was picturing her carried to her grave, her brief reign over. And what would happen to the country? Some would try to put Mary of Scotland on the throne; and there would be others who wanted the Lady Catharine Grey. We could be plunged into civil war. But the question which plagued me most was: What will Robert do if she dies? And I was asking myself if I had hurried too quickly into marriage and whether it would have been better to have waited a while.
Then I gave birth to my second child daughter and I called her Dorothy.
The Queen recovered, which was what might have been expected of her. Moreover she had come through unscathed, which was rare. Robert sister Mary, who was married to Henry Sidney, had been with the Queen night and day attending to all her needs, caught the smallpox from her and was severely disfigured. I heard that Lady Mary asked leave to retire from Court, permission which could scarcely be denied in the circumstances was given, and she went to her family estate at Penshurst, from where she never really wanted to emerge again. Her reward for nursing Elizabeth, who was not likely to forget it. One of the Queen virtues was her loyalty to those who served her; besides, Mary Sidney was her beloved Robert sister.
Walter said that people again believed that a marriage between the Queen and Robert might now take place.
ut why should it be acceptable now when it was not a short time ago?I demanded.
t not such a short while,Walter reminded me, nd the people are so delighted to have her well again that they would be prepared to accept anything. They want her married. They want an heir to the throne. Her recent illness has shown how dangerous it could be if she died without heirs.
he won die until she wants to,I said grimly.
hat,retorted Walter coolly, s in the hands of God.
So the Court was soon as it was before her illness. Robert was back in favor, always at her side, always hopeful, I had no doubt; and perhaps more so than ever now that it was being hinted that people would accept a marriage between them.
The Queen was in high spiritsappy to be well again. She pardoned the Pole brothers, a gesture which was typical of her. She wanted to show her people how merciful she was and that she bore no grudges to any. The Poles were exiled, thoughnd the Court was gay again.
But there was no announcement of her betrothal to Robert.
It was galling to receive the news through Walter and those who came to Chartley to visit us, because they never told me all I wanted to know. As soon as I had recovered from Dorothy birth, I promised myself, I would go to Court again. The Queen would welcome me and I rehearsed how I would kneel before her with tears of joy in my eyes at her recovery. I knew how to produce those tears with the juice of certain plants. Then I would cajole her into giving me her version of events and I would tell her how a quiet life in the country was no worthy substitute for her royal apartments. She was always a little
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