“My lord, I intend not to hold my judgment higher than thine for thou art of superior wisdom and age. I am willing to be guided by thee, but I would that the end could be gained by other ways than those of crookedness.”
“’Tis for thy parents’ sake as well as thine,” observed the other. “Thou knowest how full of anxiety they must be, and how solicitously they await thy return. Thou shouldst be willing to adopt any course that would allay that uneasiness and restore thee to their arms.” 187
“And I am willing,” responded the girl with fervor. “Away, indecision! Away, doubts! No longer will I listen to ye; for what says Will Shakspeare:
| “‘Our doubts are traitors, |
| And make us lose the good we oft might win, |
| By fearing to attempt.’ |
Speak on, my lord. Unfold again thy plan, and I will follow it, be the issue what it may.”
“There spake the Stafford blood,” exclaimed the nobleman approvingly. “Listen, girl, then haste thee to the queen’s gallery; for on the hazard of this die depends thy fortune.”
Francis gave heed to all of his instructions, and then made her way to the queen’s apartment. The chamber was unoccupied, and she looked about in quest of some suitable hiding-place. At one end of the room the mullioned window opened upon a long balcony which overlooked the private garden. Francis resolved to place herself there rather than behind the rich tapestries.
She had scarcely taken her position near an 188 open window where she could both see and hear without being herself seen when Elizabeth entered. To the girl’s consternation she was not alone, but attended by Walsingham, Burleigh, Hatton and Leicester.
Elizabeth seemed much agitated, and Francis, unwilling to be a listener in matters of state, looked about her for some means of retiring when her attention was caught by a name.
“And thou art sure, Walsingham, of the truth of this matter? Hast thou indisputable proofs that Anthony Babington is guilty of design to murder us? Long have I known that he inclined toward the claims of our cousin, Mary of Scotland, but so too do my Lord Stafford, my Lord Percy, and other of our subjects. Yet none of these gentlemen would lift a hand against the person of his queen. Art sure of what thou art saying?”