“I do not desire freedom,” replied Jane, “neither will I trust myself to you. I will abide here till my cousin Mary makes her entrance into the Tower, and I will then throw myself upon her mercy.”
“She will show you no mercy,” rejoined Gunnora. “Do not, I implore of you, expose yourself to the first outbreak of her jealous and vindictive nature. Queen Mary inherits her father’s inexorable disposition, and I am well assured, if you tarry here, you will fall a victim to her displeasure. Do not neglect this opportunity, sweet lady. In a few hours it may be too late.”
“Accept her offer, gracious madam,” urged Cicely; “it may be your last chance of safety. You are here surrounded by enemies.”
“But how am I to escape from the fortress, if I accede to your wishes?” replied Jane.
“Follow me, and I will conduct you,” answered Gunnora. “I have possessed myself of the key of a subterranean passage which will convey you to the other side of the moat.”
“But my husband?” hesitated Jane.
“Do not think of him,” interrupted Gunnora, frowning. “He deserted you in the hour of danger. Let him perish on the scaffold with his false father.”
“Leave me, old woman,” said Jane authoritatively; “I will not go with you.”
“Do not heed her, my gracious mistress,” urged Cholmondeley; “your tarrying here cannot assist Lord Guilford, and will only aggravate his affliction. Besides, some means may be devised for his escape.”
“Pardon what I have said, dear lady,” said Gunnora. “Deadly as is the hatred I bear to the house of Northumberland, for your sweet sake I will forgive his son. Nay more, I will effect his deliverance. This I swear to you. Come with me, and once out of the Tower make what haste you can to Sion House, where your husband shall join you before the morning.”
“You promise more than you can accomplish,” said Jane.
“That remains to be seen, madam,” replied Gunnora; “but were it not that he is your husband, Lord Guilford Dudley should receive no help from me. Once more, will you trust me?”
“I will,” replied Jane.
Cholmondeley then seized a torch, and fastening the door of the chamber, on the outside of which a guard was stationed, assisted Jane through the masked door. Preceded by the old woman, who carried a lamp, they threaded a long narrow passage built in the thickness of the wall, and presently arrived at the head of a flight of stairs, which brought them to a long corridor arched and paved with stone. Traversing this, they struck into an avenue on the right, exactly resembling one of those which Cholmondeley had recently explored. Jane expressed her surprise at the vast extent of the passages she was threading, when Gunnora answered: “The whole of the Tower is undermined with secret passages and dungeons, but their existence is known only to few.”
A few minutes’ rapid walking brought them to a stone staircase, which they mounted, traversed another gallery, and finally halted before a low Gothic-arched door, which admitted them to the interior of the Bowyer Tower. Requesting Cholmondeley to assist her, Gunnora, with his help, speedily raised a trap-door of stone, and disclosed a flight of steps. While they were thus employed, a strange and unaccountable terror took possession of Jane. As she glanced timidly towards the doorway she had just quitted she imagined she saw a figure watching her, and in the gloom almost fancied it was the same muffled object she had beheld in St. John’s Chapel. A superstitious terror kept her silent. As she looked more narrowly at the figure, she thought it bore an axe upon its shoulder, and she was about to point it out to her companions, when making a gesture of silence it disappeared. By this time the trap-door being raised, Cholmondeley descended the steps with the torch, while Gunnora, holding back the flag, begged her to descend. But Jane did not move.
“Do not lose time,” cried the old woman; “we may be followed and retaken.”
Still Jane hesitated. She cast another look towards the doorway, and the idea crossed her, that from that very outlet she should be led to execution. A deadly chill pervaded her frame, and her feet seemed nailed to the ground. Seeing her irresolution, Cicely threw herself on her knees before her, and implored her to make an effort. Jane advanced a step and then paused. After remaining a moment in deep abstraction, she turned to Cicely, and said —
“Child, I thank you for your zeal, but I feel it is useless. Though I may escape from the Tower, I cannot escape my fate.”
Cicely, however, renewed her entreaties, and, seconded by Cholmondeley, she at length prevailed. Pursuing the same course which Gunnora had taken on the night she was brought to the Tower by Simon Renard, they at length arrived at the shed at the farther side of the moat.
“You are now safe,” said Gunnora. “Hasten to Sion House, and if my plan does not fail, your husband shall join you there before many hours have passed.”
So saying, she departed. Jane and her attendants crossed Tower Hill, from which she turned to gaze at the scene of her greatness, indistinctly visible in the gloom — and so agonizing were the thoughts occasioned by the sight, that she burst into tears. As soon as she had recovered from her paroxysm of grief, they proceeded to the river-side, where they fortunately procured a boat, and were rowed towards Sion House.
CHAPTER XVII.
IN WHAT MANNER JANE WAS BROUGHT BACK TO THE TOWER OF LONDON.
GUNNORA BRAOSE kept her word. Before daybreak Lord Guilford Dudley joined his afflicted consort. Their meeting was passionate and sad. As Jane ardently returned her husband’s fond embrace, she cried: “Oh, my dear lord, that we had never been deluded by the false glitter of greatness to quit this calm retreat! Oh that we may be permitted to pass the remainder of our days here!”
“I have not yet abandoned all hopes of the throne,” replied Dudley. “Our fortunes may be retrieved.”
“Never,” returned Jane gravely— “never, so far as I am concerned. Were the crown to be again offered to me — were I assured I could retain it — I would not accept it. No, Dudley, the dream of ambition is over; and I am fully sensible of the error I have committed.”
“As you please, my Queen, for I will still term you so,” rejoined Dudley; “but if my father is in arms I will join him, and we will make one last effort for the prize, and regain it, or perish in the attempt.”
“Your wild ambition will lead you to the scaffold, and will conduct me there also,” replied Jane. “If we could not hold the power when it was in our own hands, how can you hope to regain it?”
“It is not lost — I will not believe it, till I am certified under my father’s own hand that he has abandoned the enterprise,” rejoined Dudley. “You know him not, Jane.
With five thousand men at his command — nay, with a fifth of that number, he is more than a match for all his enemies. We shall yet live to see him master of the Tower — of this rebellious city. We shall yet see our foes led to the scaffold. And if I see the traitors, Renard, Pembroke, and Arundel conducted thither, I will excuse Fortune all her malice.”
“Heaven forgive them their treason, as I forgive them!” exclaimed Jane. “But I fear their enmity will not be satisfied till they have brought us to the block to which you would doom them.”
“This is not a season for reproaches, Jane,” said Dudley coldly; “but if you had not trusted that false traitor Renard — if you had not listened to his pernicious counsels — if you had not refused my suit for the crown and urged my father to undertake the expedition against Mary — all had been well. You had been Queen — and! King.”
“Your reproaches are deserved, Dudley,” replied Jane, “and you cannot blame me more severely than I blame myself. Nevertheless, had I acceded to your desires — had I raised you to the sovereignty — had I turned a deaf ear to Renard’s counsel, and not suffered myself to be duped by his allies Arundel and Pembroke — had I retained your father in the Tower — my reign would not have been of much longer duration.”
“I do not understand you, madam,” said Lord Guilford sternly.
“To be plain, then,”
replied Jane—” for disguise is useless now — I am satisfied that your father aimed at the crown himself; that I was merely placed on the throne to prepare it for him, and that when the time arrived he would have removed me.”
“Jane!” exclaimed her husband furiously.
“Have patience, dear Dudley!” she rejoined. “I say not this to rouse your anger, or to breed further misunderstanding between us. Heaven knows we have misery enough to endure without adding to it. I say it to reconcile you to your lot. I say it to check the spirit of ambition which I find is yet smouldering within your bosom. I say it to prevent your joining in any fresh attempt with your father, which will assuredly end in the destruction of both.”
“But you have brought a charge so foul against him, madam,” cried her husband, “that as his son, I am bound to tell you you are grievously in error.”
“Dudley,” replied Jane firmly, “I have proofs that the Duke poisoned my cousin, King Edward. I have proofs, also, that he would have poisoned me.”
“It is false!” cried her husband furiously; “it is a vile calumny fabricated by his enemies. You have been imposed upon.”
“Not so, my lord,” cried Gunnora Braose, who had been an unseen listener to the conversation. “It is no calumny. The royal Edward was poisoned by me at your father’s instigation; and you and your consort would have shared the same fate.”
“False hag! thou liest,” cried Lord Guilford.
“Read that,” replied Gunnora, placing a document in his hands. “It is my order in the Duke’s own writing. Do you credit me now?”
Dudley hastily cast his eyes over the scroll. His countenance tell, and the paper dropped from his grasp.
“And now hear my news,” continued the old woman, with a smile of exultation. “Your father has proclaimed Queen Mary at Cambridge.”
“Impossible!” cried Dudley.
“I tell you it is true,” replied Gunnora; “a messenger arrived at midnight with the tidings, and it was during the confusion created by the intelligence that I contrived to effect your escape. The Earl of Arundel is despatched to arrest him, and ere to-morrow night he will be lodged within the Tower. Yes,” she continued, with a ferocious laugh, “I shall see him placed in the same dungeon in which he lodged my foster-son, the great Duke of Somerset. I shall see his head stricken off by the same axe, and upon the same scaffold, and I shall die content.”
“Horrible!” cried Jane. “Leave us, wretched woman. Your presence adds to my affliction.”
“I will leave you, dear lady,” replied Gunnora; “but though absent from you, I will not fail to watch over you. I have powerful friends within the Tower, and if any ill be designed you, I will give you timely warning. Farewell!”
A miserable and anxious day was passed by Jane and her husband. Lord Guilford would fain have departed with Cholmondeley to join his father at Cambridge, but suffered himself to be dissuaded from the rash undertaking by the tears and entreaties of his consort. As to Cicely and her lover, their sympathies were so strongly excited for the distresses of Jane, that the happiness they would otherwise have experienced in each other’s society was wholly destroyed. At night, as the little party were assembled, Gunnora Braose again made her appearance, and her countenance bespoke that some new danger was at hand.
“What ill tidings do you bring?” cried Dudley, starting to his feet.
“Fly!” exclaimed Gunnora. “You have not a moment to lose. Simon Renard has discovered your retreat, and Lord Clinton, with a body of men, is hastening hither to convey you to the Tower. Fly!”
“Whither?” exclaimed Lord Guilford. “Whither shall we fly?”
“It is useless, my dear lord,” replied Jane calmly, “to contend further. I resign myself to the hands of Providence, and I counsel you to do the same.”
“Come then with me, Cholmondeley,” cried Dudley, snatching up his cloak, and girding on his sword, “we will to horse at once, and join my father at Cambridge. If he has a handful of men left we can yet make a gallant defence.”
“The Duke is arrested, and on his way to the Tower,” said Gunnora.
“Ha!” exclaimed Dudley; “when did this occur?”
“Yesterday,” replied the old woman. “He was taken within his chamber by my grandson, Gilbert Pot, who has received a hundred pounds in lands, and the degree of an esquire for the deed. He submitted himself to the Earl of Arundel, and his deportment was as abject as it formerly was arrogant. When he saw the Earl, he fell on his knees, and desired him to have pity on him for the love of God. ‘Consider,’ he said, ‘I have done nothing but by the order of you and the whole Council.’ Then the Earl of Arundel replied, ‘I am sent hither by the Queen’s majesty, and in her name I arrest you.’
‘And I obey it, my lord,’ answered the Duke. ‘I beseech you use mercy towards me, knowing the case as it is.’
‘My lord,’ rejoined the Earl, ‘you should have sought mercy sooner. I must do according to my commandment. You are my prisoner.’ And he committed him in charge of my grandson and others of the guard,”
“How learned you this?” inquired Lord Guilford. “From a messenger who has just arrived at the Tower,” replied the old woman; “and this is the last act of the great Duke of Northumberland. We shall soon see how he comports himself on the scaffold.”
“Begone,” cried Jane, “and do not stay here to deride our misery.”
“I am not come hither to deride it,” replied the old woman, “but to warn you.”
“I thank you for your solicitude,” replied Jane, “but it is needless. Retire all of you, I entreat, and leave me with my husband.”
Her injunctions were immediately complied with, and her attendants withdrew. The unfortunate pair were not, however, allowed much time for conversation. Before they had been many minutes alone the door was burst open, and a troop of armed men headed by Lord Clinton, the lieutenant of the Tower, rushed in.
“I am aware of your errand, my lord,” said Jane; “you are come to convey me to the Tower. I am ready to attend you.”
“It is well,” replied Lord Clinton. “If you have any preparations to make you shall have time for them.”
“I have none, my lord,” she replied.
“Nor I,” replied Lord Guilford.
“My sole request is, that I may take one female attendant with me,” said Jane, pointing to Cicely.
“I am sorry I cannot comply with the request,” answered Lord Clinton, “but my orders are peremptory.”
“Will my esquire be permitted to accompany me?” inquired Dudley.
“If he chooses to incur the risk of so doing, assuredly,” replied Clinton. “But he will go into captivity.”
“I will follow my Lord Guilford to death,” cried Cholmondeley.
“You are a faithful esquire, indeed!” observed Lord Clinton, with a slight sneer.
While this was passing, Cicely hastily threw a surcoat of velvet over her mistress’s shoulders to protect her from the night air, and then prostrating herself before her, clasped her hand, and bedewed it with tears.
“Rise, child,” said Jane, raising her and embracing her. “Farewell! may you be speedily united to your lover, and may your life be happier than that of your unfortunate mistress!”
“My barge awaits you at the stairs,” observed Lord Clinton.
“We will follow you, my lord,” said Dudley.
Leaning upon Cicely, Jane, who was scarcely able to support herself, was placed in the stern of the boat. Her husband took his seat near her, and two men-at-arms, with drawn swords, were stationed as a guard on either side of them. Bidding a hasty adieu to the weeping Cicely, Cholmondeley sprang into the boat, and was followed by Clinton, who immediately gave the signal to the rowers. Cicely lingered till the bark disappeared, and as two halberdiers bearing torches were placed in the fore part of the vessel, she was enabled to track its course far down the river. When the last glimmer of light vanished her heart died within her, and she returned to indulge her grief i
n solitude.
Meanwhile the boat with its unhappy occupants pursued a rapid course. The tide being in their favor they shortly reached London, and as they swept past Durham House — whence, only twelve days ago, she had proceeded in so much pomp to the Tower — Jane’s feelings became too poignant almost for endurance. The whole pageant rose before her in all its splendour. Again she heard the roar of the cannon announcing her departure. Again she beheld the brilliant crowd of proud nobles, gaily dressed cavaliers, lovely and high-born dames, grave prelates, judges, and ambassadors. Again she beheld the river glistening with golden craft. Again she heard the ominous words of Gunnora, “Go not to the Tower!” Again she beheld the fierce lightning flash, again heard the loud thunder roll — and she felt she had received a deep and awful warning. These thoughts affected her so powerfully, that she sank half fainting on her husband’s shoulder.
In this state she continued till they had shot London Bridge, and the first object upon which her gaze rested when she opened her eyes was the Tower.
Here again other harrowing recollections arose. How different was the present, from her former entrance into the fortress! Then a deafening roar of ordnance welcomed her. Then all she passed saluted her as Queen. Then drawbridges were lowered, gates opened, and each vied with the other to show her homage. Then a thousand guards attended her. Then allegiance was sworn — fidelity vowed — but how kept? Now all was changed. She was brought a prisoner to the scene of her former grandeur, unattended, unnoted.
Striving to banish these reflections, which, in spite of her efforts, obtruded themselves upon her, she strained her gaze to discover through the gloom the White Tower, but could discern nothing but a sombre mass like a thunder-cloud. St. Thomas’s or Traitor’s Tower was, however, plainly distinguishable, as several armed men carrying flambeaux were stationed on its summit.
The Works of William Harrison Ainsworth Page 131
