Elizabeth raged that mere subjects should venture to accuse a queen as if she were an ordinary person. “How dare they call their sovereign to account?” demanded the angry ruler of England. She declared that Mary’s throne should be restored to her and that the rebels should be punished. Indeed, in her wrath she made all sorts of wild vows and threats which she had no power to keep.
This support, however, encouraged Mary’s friends to attempt her rescue. She escaped from Lochleven; her followers fought an unsuccessful battle; she rode on horseback, sixty miles in a single day; she was taken in a fishing boat to the English side of Solway Frith; and then the deposed queen was safe in England, in the realm of the sovereign from whom she believed she might expect assistance.
Elizabeth and her council considered the matter long and earnestly.
“Let us return her to Scotland.”
“Then she will be put to death, and the Catholics of Scotland and England will be aroused against Queen Elizabeth.”
“Shall we place her back upon the Scotch throne?”
“We could not without war with Scotland and probably with France.”
“Shall we invite her to remain in England as the guest of the queen?”
“And offer her as a head for every conspiracy that may be formed against her Majesty? No.”
“There is something else. We have a right to know whether we are protecting an innocent young woman who had fled to us for help, or a criminal who has aided in the murder of her husband.”