“They answered that their commission was to bring her to London, alive
or dead.”
]
_Drawn for “The Flying Carpet”
by H. M. Brock_
Presently she was locked and bolted in the Tower; her own servants were
taken from her; to open her casement, that she might enjoy the fresh air
of heaven, to walk in the garden—these were pleasures denied her. One
sole thing was constantly demanded of her, that she should confess
herself a rebel and submit herself to the Queen. Nobly did she refuse,
and was left to silence and her own proud thoughts.
_Hampton Court_
She changed her prison, and kept unchanged her high courage. From the
Tower she was carried to Woodstock. But what mattered it where the
dungeon lay? The locks and bolts were no more easily burst asunder at
Woodstock than at the Tower. And then of a sudden her keeper was bidden
to bring her to Hampton Court, not as a free Princess, but as a guarded
malefactor. At Colnbrook, where on the way she sojourned at the sign of
the George, certain gentlemen, devoted to her service, came to do her
homage. Instantly, at the Queen’s command, they were sent about their
business, and the Princess was bidden to enter Hampton Court, without an
escort, and by the back gate, like the humblest menial. Again for many
days she was left solitary and in silence, when she was summoned one
night into the presence of the Queen, her sister, whose heavy hand she
had felt unceasingly, whose face she had not seen for two long years.
The Queen, sitting on her chair of State, took up her promise of loyalty
sharply and shortly.
“Then you will not confess yourself,” said she, “to be a delinquent, I
see, but stand peremptorily upon your truth and innocence; I pray God
they may so fall out.”
To which the Princess replied: “If not, I neither require favour nor
pardon at your Majesty’s hands.”
“Well,” said the Queen, “then you stand so stiffly upon your faith and
loyalty, that you suppose yourself to have been wrongfully punished and
imprisoned.”
“I cannot,” replied the Princess, “nor must not say so to you.”
“Why then belike,” retorted the Queen, “you will report it to others.”
“Not so,” said the Princess. “I have borne and must bear the burden
myself.”
The two sisters never met again, but the Princess’s courage in facing
her fate was not in vain. Thenceforth she was eased of her imprisonment,
and went to Ashridge in free custody, where she remained at her
pleasure, until Queen Mary’s death.
_A Progress through London_
In 1558 the Queen died, and the Princess Elizabeth, justified of her
patience and her courage, was proclaimed Queen of England. In the loyal
enthusiasm of her subjects, who had long since acclaimed her in their
hearts, the years of solitude and imprisonment were forgotten. To the
Tower, which she had left a captive, she returned a monarch, and passed
in triumph through her City of London to Westminster. Everywhere she was
welcomed by pageants and loyal discourse, until she came to the famous
Abbey where she was crowned, to the contentment of her loyal lieges and
to the honour and glory of her realm.