THE TOWER OF LONDON.
“If I may without offence rejoice in mine own mishap,” she wrote, “meseems in this I may account myself blessed, that washing mine hands with the innocency of my fact, my guiltless blood may cry before the Lord, mercy, mercy to the innocent. And yet I must acknowledge that being constrained, and, as you wot well enough, continually assailed, in taking upon me I seemed to consent, and therein offended the Queen and her laws, yet do I assuredly trust that this mine offence towards God is much the less, in that being in so royal an estate as I was, mine enforced honour never agreed with mine innocent heart.”[205]
The trial was held on November 13, on which day Cranmer, with Guilford, and his brother, and Lady Jane, were all conducted on foot to the Guildhall to answer the charge of treason.
The Archbishop led the way, followed by young Dudley. After them came Lady Jane, a childish figure of woe, dressed in black, with a French hood, also black, a book bound in black velvet hanging at her side, and another in her hand.
Her condemnation was a foregone conclusion, and, pleading guilty, she was sentenced to death, by the axe or by fire, according to the old brutal law dealing with a woman convicted of treason. As she returned to the Tower a demonstration took place in her honour, not unlikely to be productive of some uneasiness to those in power, and little calculated to serve her cause.
The London populace were more favourably disposed towards her in misfortune, than in her brief period of prosperity. The sight of the forlorn pair, still no more than boy and girl, touched and moved the multitude, and crowds accompanied them to their place of captivity. It is said that this was the solitary occasion upon which she and Guilford Dudley met during their imprisonment.
Another cause, besides simple pity, was perhaps responsible for the tenderness displayed towards the Queen’s rival. A week or two before the trial the news of the Spanish match had been made known to the public, and may have had the effect of suggesting doubts as to the wisdom of the enthusiastic welcome given to Mary. At the beginning of November the affair had been undecided, and Gardiner was telling the Emperor’s envoy candidly that, if the Queen asked his advice, he would counsel her to choose an Englishman for her husband. The nation, he added, was deeply prejudiced against foreign domination, especially in the case of Spaniards, and the proposed union would also produce war with France.
Mary’s mind, however, was made up, nor had she any intention of being swayed by Gardiner’s advice. On the night of October 30 she took the singular step of summoning the ambassador, Simon Renard, to her apartment; when, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and after repeating on her knees the Veni Creator, she gave him her promise to wed the Prince of Spain. In the face of the curious determination thus shown to bind herself by a contract irrevocable in her own eyes, it is strange to find historians attributing to her a continued leaning towards Courtenay.
When the fact got abroad that the Emperor’s son was destined to become the Queen’s husband, London thrilled with indignation; whilst Parliament made its sentiments plain by means of a deputation which, in an address containing an entreaty that she would marry, expressed a hope that her choice would fall upon an Englishman. But Mary was a Tudor. Dispensing with the customary medium of the Chancellor, she gave her reply in person. Thanking the petitioners for their zeal, she declared herself disposed to act upon their advice and to take a husband. It was, however, for herself alone to select one, according to her inclination, and for the good of her kingdom.
Simon Renard, reporting the scene, observed that her speech had been applauded by the nobles present, Arundel informing the Chancellor in jest that he had been deprived of his office, since the Queen had undertaken the functions belonging to it. In the pleasantry the Emperor’s envoy detected a warning that should Gardiner continue his opposition to the match he would not long retain his present post.[206]