Queen of This Realm - Plaidy Jean - Страница 27

However, the plotters calculated that if Mary could be deposed and I set up as Queen with Courtenay as my husband (no foreigners were wanted) we should put an end to the Spanish threat and ensure a Protestant country.

Thus Sir Thomas Wyatt became leader of that insurrection which was to put me in acute peril.

He was the son of that other Thomas Wyatt, friend of my father, who had been in love with my mother. After a somewhat wild youth he had distinguished himself in military operations, and had supported Mary when Northumberland had tried to put Jane Grey on the throne; but the decision to marry Philip of Spain had disturbed and angered him. Yet he might have been like so many of his countrymen, resentful but inactive, had he not had a communication from Edward Courtenay suggesting that he should stand with him against the Spanish match.

Wyatt was a good soldier but an impulsive young man. Instead of weighing up the chances of success, he immediately declared his willingness to join in; and he was certain that he could arouse the whole of Kent to the cause.

Accordingly he invited all the noblemen of the neighborhood to Allington Castle, the Kentish home of the Wyatt family, to discuss plans. In the meantime Courtenay with the Earl of Suffolk and others tried to do the same. Their efforts met with no success and they were soon betrayed and arrested which left Wyatt as leader of the operation to which he had merely been called in to take a part.

It was too late for him to desist as he had always made his feelings clear and put himself in a very unsafe position, so he went to Maidstone, proclaimed his intentions there and, using the skill he had acquired in the army, soon had fifteen hundred men under his command while as many as five thousand had promised to join him. Cannon and ammunition were sent to him by sympathizers and when news of what was happening reached the Queen and her advisers in London, it was decided that action must be taken.

First a proclamation was made, offering free pardon to all those rebels who would go peacefully to their homes. This had the effect of depriving Wyatt of a great many of his followers. Some of those who had set out to join him had been intercepted and dispersed by the Queen's forces.

In a week or so the euphoria had faded and Wyatt's position looked desperate. It had not been his idea in the first place and I fancy he must have been regretting that he had ever been caught up in an enterprise which had little hope of succeeding. He tried to uphold the spirits of those who remained with him by telling them that help from France was on the way, which seemed plausible enough because the last thing the French wanted was a union between England and Spain.

At Ashridge I waited eagerly for the news. I knew, as did everyone else, that the object of the insurrection was to depose Mary and set me up in her place. My feelings were mixed. I did not want to come to the throne in this way. History had taught me that it is most unsafe for one monarch to depose another. I thought of Henry IV and my own grandfather Henry VII. Neither of these men had worn the crown with any sense of security. Always they had been on the lookout for those who would rise against them. When the crown came to me I wanted it to come naturally…by right of inheritance. I did not want to snatch it from my sister who many would continue to think was the rightful heir. Had my advice been sought I would never have agreed to Wyatt's making this effort.

But he had done so and I—however unwillingly—was involved.

Wyatt had a stroke of luck. The Queen sent a force to meet him, but she and her advisers had foolishly miscalculated Wyatt's strength. The force was not as strong as Wyatt's and when it reached Rochester and realized the size of the army ranged against it, the Queen's men lost heart. Some of them even joined Wyatt; the leaders fled; and soon Wyatt was marching on London at the head of four thousand men.

The government was in a panic. It needed time to raise an army and, to gain time, it offered to parley with Wyatt. Mary then showed herself to be a true Queen, and her father's daughter. She went to the Guildhall and there spoke to the people of London, telling them that they must rise and save the city from the rebels. She was the Queen and had no intention of parleying with traitors and she called on the citizens of London to come to the protection of their city.

In the midst of all this a messenger came to Ashridge.

Kat came bursting into my chamber, full of excitement. Her experiences in the Tower had subdued her a little, but there were times when she could not suppress her excitement at what was happening. She was so certain that I was going to be the savior of my country, and the sooner I was on the throne the better.

“My lady,” she cried, “there is a gentleman below who would see you. He says it is of the utmost importance.”

“What gentleman is this?” I asked, and I felt alarm beginning to stir in me. If it was someone connected with the rebellion, I wanted none of it.

“It is young Lord Russell, my lady. The Earl of Bedford's son.”

“What does Bedford's son want here?”

“Better go and see, my lady,” replied Kat, her eyes glistening.

I hesitated. Should I see him? Was it wise?

I went to him. He fell on his knees before me, a gesture which both delighted and alarmed me.

He said he had come with a message from Sir Thomas Wyatt. Sir Thomas begged me not to go near the metropolis … in fact to remove myself farther from it than I was at present.

I replied: “Why should I do this, my lord?”

“My lady, great events are afoot. Sir Thomas Wyatt is anxious that you should be kept out of danger.”

“I have no part in Sir Thomas Wyatt's matters,” I said.

He bowed and replied that he had merely come to deliver the message. I was relieved when he went.

A few days later the Queen's messenger arrived.

I was very cautious now and I remained in my bedchamber whenever anyone came to Ashridge. Thus I did not emerge until I was sure who the visitors were, so I did not see the Queen's messenger until I was prepared for him.

Kat came to my room, her eyes wide, and even she was alarmed.

“He has come to escort you to London on orders of the Queen,” she said.

I felt faint. I did not believe for one moment that Wyatt would succeed; moreover one of his fellow conspirators was Suffolk, the father of Jane Grey. If the rebellion was a success, I would not be the one he would want to see Queen. Jane was a prisoner in the Tower and Suffolk's plan would surely be to release her and put her back on the throne.

I looked at Kat. I was already pulling off my gown.

“Come, help me to bed,” I said.

She stared at me.

“Hurry!” I cried. “I am grievously sick and far too ill to go to London.”

It was only when I was in my bed, with the sheets drawn up to my chin that the Queen's messenger was allowed to be sent to me, and when he came he was clearly dismayed to see me in my bed.

“You must tell me your business,” I said faintly.

“My lady, the Queen's orders are that you must come to her in London without delay, where you will be most heartily welcome.”

“Pray convey my thanks to Her Majesty and tell her how grieved I am to be laid so low that I cannot take advantage of her goodness.”

“The Queen will be most displeased if I return without Your Grace.”

“Tell her I rejoice in her goodness to me and how sad I am not to be able to take advantage of it.”

He was very reluctant to go, and would not until I had written a letter to the Queen telling her that I was too ill to travel, but as soon as I was able I would come to her, and I begged Her Majesty's forbearance for a few days.

After the messenger had gone I was taken by a fit of trembling and I had no need to feign illness.