“Put up your sword, my lord,” cried Jane, throwing herself between them. “You forget in whose presence you stand.”
“No!” exclaimed Northumberland, “I do not forget. I am in the presence of one who owes her authority to me—and who holds it through me. The same power which made you queen, can as readily unmake you.”
“Your majesty will now judge who is the traitor,” observed Renard, sarcastically.
“I do,” she replied. “I command your grace,” she continued, authoritatively addressing Northumberland, “to quit the chapel instantly.”
“What if I refuse to obey?” rejoined the Duke.
“Your grace will do well not to urge me too far,” replied Jane. “Obey me, or take the consequences.”
“What are they?” cried the Duke contemptuously.
“Your arrest,” said the Earl of Pembroke, laying his hand upon his sword, and advancing. “If his grace will not submit himself to your highness’s authority, we will compel him to do so.”